Joel Glickman, emeritus professor of music at Northland College, has written his first children’s book, the delightfully playful Marisol the Parasol: A Bumbershoot Romance.

Joel lives on Ellis Avenue—a few blocks from the College—with his wife, Susan, where he can often be found playing banjo on his front stoop. He is a musician, prolific poet, and a grandfather of four.

He wrote Marisol the Parasol in 2016 during his granddaughter’s birthday party. “I hid out in the upstairs bedroom because little children were running wild through the house,” he said. “And this thing came to me.”

The story recounts the saga of Marisol the parasol (an umbrella intended for sunshine) and Louie the parapluie (for rain), the whimsical weather of Paris, and how love conquers all.

Glickman wrote Marisol the Parasol but “is terrible at drawing,” so by chance when he was again at the home of his daughter and granddaughter, he met children’s illustrator Ollie Oliver. The two hit it off and so began years of collaboration and emails.

“The process was long but a lot of fun,” he said.

Joels’ book is available at Honest Dog Books in Bayfield and Spinster Books in Ashland.