After 40 years, thousands of concerts, and tens of thousands of students, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is an internationally recognized arts center and home of an outstanding classical/jazz radio station, Blue Lake Public Radio.

What most Blue Lake devotees don't know is that the camp nearly closed in its infancy. A perfect storm of black-hearted bankers, fund-raising mistakes, undercapitalization, and over enrollment nearly sank the camp on the zany night of an historic Detroit Symphony performance in the camp dining hall.

Now the only person who could tell the whole story of the search and rescue mission that saved this summer school of the arts, founder Fritz Stansell, tells all.

A must read for anyone who loves the fine arts, this against all odds story, set in the Manistee National Forest, is a touching tribute to the tenacity of a small band of music educators who helped rescue the camp and make it the international success it is today.