Dan Ellens Author Signing

Name: Dan Ellens Author Signing
Start: 2026-04-30T17:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-30T18:00:00-05:00
Location: Dan Ellens Author Signing

April 30, 2026 @ 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Overview

Mother Nature struggles to maintain equilibrium in a changing world while fire, disease, logging, human displacement, and war repeatedly destroy forests of centuries-old trees.

A time-traveling deer, Ol’ Split Toe travels through time to understand the interconnected workings of a Michigan forest and meets Ice Age hunters who trap and kill a mastodon; Mukwoh, a young Ojibwe hunter who stalks Split Toe through swamp and forest; loggers clear-cutting Michigan’s white pines; Edra, a woman advocating for the trees; Angus and Grace, pioneers who become a first generation of family farmers; and scientists from the future studying the impact of nuclear radiation.

Split Toe witnesses two hundred years of conflict that builds between modern humans and Mother Nature, who repeatedly reaches for balance. He wonders whether human ways will ultimately overpower Mother Nature, until he meets a boy who changes everything.

The story is filled with suspense, action, and emotion and is riddled with historical tidbits from Michigan’s rural heritage.

Dan Ellens is an outdoor enthusiast who is passionate about connecting people with nature. He spends nearly half of each year in an isolated, electricity-free treehouse on Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary with woodstove heat, handpump water, and oil lamp lighting. Ellens has written four nonfiction books intended to inspire adventure, promote self-sufficient lifestyles, and connect people with nature. While not in the wilds, Ellens and his wife live in the small community of Salem, Michigan.