About the Author

A 1963 graduate of Wayne Law School, Nino E. Green began his career in Detroit in 1964 and practiced law in several Lower Michigan counties and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He left Detroit in 1966 to become the first executive director of Upper Peninsula Legal Services. In 1969, he entered the private practice of law in Escanaba. In 1976, he became the senior partner in the Escanaba based law firm of Green, Renner, Weisse, Rettig, Rademacher and Clark. He has appeared before the district, probate and circuit courts of the Upper Peninsula, the United States District Cours for the Western District of Michigan and the District of Minnesota, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court and the U.S. Sixth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals. He was a member of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. He was the 2003 recipient of the John W. Cummiskey Pro Bono Award and has been recognized by the Legal Services Corporation for his involvement in delivering legal services to the poor. He recently retired as chairperson of the board of directors of Legal Services of Northern Michigan.


“Nino Green is a natural-born story teller.  And that is fortunate for us, because he uses that natural ability to bring to brilliant life some of the many fascinating experiences he has had practicing law in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the last 50 years or so.  His stories are by turn sad and happy; they are about human frailty and cupidity but also about human strength and magnanimity.  What  a profoundly  captivating book.” Stephen Turner, Professor (retired), Department of English, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee, WI.


Nino Green writes of that which he knows– one man’s lifelong crusade for justice in rural America. And he delivers the story wistfully, in touching sentimental prose, sometimes dramatic, sometimes comedic.” Hon. Roy Gotham, Circuit Court Judge,  (retired), Bessemer, MI.


Good lawyers are good storytellers. Nino Green’s new book is like an evening in a cabin with an old friend, a fire, and a bottle of whiskey. His stories are like an old soldier’s stories. Think of the Arabian Nights, but this time Scheherazade is a lawyer from the Upper Peninsula Funny, wise, and delightful.” Barry Goldman, Mediator/arbitrator, Bloomfield Hills, MI


“If you want to learn something about how a canny lawyer plans his cases, you should read Nino Green’s well written book.  Added to this bit of “inside” information are some very nice portraits of the Upper Peninsula.  Nino is a city boy who has made good Up North.”  Bruce Miller, Attorney MillerCohen, Detroit, MI


A master storyteller presents fascinating characters and the stories they actually lived out. A book you genuinely won’t want to put down – Dan Beggs