The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Young readers learn about lighthouse
Author pens book for 100th anniversary
Young readers have a colorful new way to learn about the Lorain Lighthouse.
“Tyler the Fish Visits the Lorain Lighthouse” is the latest installment in the continuing adventures of Tyler, a bass who is learning about Lake Erie.
The watery character was created by author Meaghan Fisher of Troy. Her husband, Tim Rowe, illustrated the Tyler stories.
They published the latest fish tale this year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Lorain Lighthouse.
On June 14, the Lorain Historical Society will hold a book launch party that is free and open to the public.
Fisher will read her book and meet young readers from 6-8 p.m. at the Lorain Historical Society’s Carnegie Center,
329 W. 10th St. in Lorain.
In years past, Fisher said she would travel to New Jersey to visit family and see the Atlantic Ocean.
Being in Ohio, she said she decided one weekend to go see Lake Erie for herself, and write. She stayed in Huron and saw its lighthouse and the character Tyler was born.
“The story of this little fish just really came to me because I just fell in love with the lake and want to protect it,” Fisher said.
She wrote “Tyler the Fish Saves Lake Erie,” a story of Tyler’s efforts to rally his fish and bird friends so they could make the Coast Guard aware of pollution.
As news spread online about the ecological health and concerns of Lake Erie, the Tyler books have gotten attention around the world, even in places where people don’t know exactly where Lake Erie is.
“I’m like, what? Being from Ohio and knowing the five Great Lakes, it’s like, how could nobody know?” said Fisher. “It was neat to talk to them about it and educate people about it, so I kind of made that my mission, to educate about the lake, the creatures that are in it, protecting it, keeping it beautiful.”
Her latest work about the Lorain Lighthouse came at the request of
the Lorain Historical Society to celebrate the Lorain Lighthouse’s centennial.
On June 12, Fisher and Rowe and their children, daughter Emma Rose, 6, and son Kevin Charles, 3, made their first trip out for a private tour of the Lorain Lighthouse.
The next day, Fisher was a guest in the Historical Society’s 2017 summer camp series.
The youths age 6 to 10 learned a lot about lighthouses generally from instructor Jill Henes, a Lorain native and a preschool teacher at Elyria’s Franklin Elementary School.
Henes has visited the Lorain Lighthouse, and with her mother, completed a photo essay on the structure for a continuing education project.
Fisher also guided them to color, cut out and assemble their own paper versions of Tyler the Fish.
Without the lighthouse, “what would the ships have done?” Fisher asked the children.
Fisher read her book to the group, with Lorain youths Kailynn Dye, 9; Landon Dye, 6; Landon Rivera, 7; and Sophia Ohliger, 6.
On June 15, the youths will get a boat ride to the Lorain Lighthouse.
Without the lighthouse, “what would the ships have done?” Fisher asked the children.
The prospect of navigating Lake Erie off Lorain without the lighthouse is not good, she said.
“So, we’re very grateful she’s stood for so long,” Fisher said.
“That’s why we’ve got to take care of her.”