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George Wilson with his new book, “Two Trains from Scottville.”
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
SCOTTVILLE — For George C. Wilson, the story of his father’s remarkable childhood was one he had heard many times. It was a story of family dysfunction, hardship, determination and the people of Scottville who helped a teenage boy find a place to call home.
Now, Wilson has brought that story to life in his new novel, “Two Trains From Scottville,” a work of historical fiction inspired by the experiences of his father, George F. “Big George” Wilson.
The novel follows a young man who escaped an abusive home in Detroit during the Great Depression and World War II years, eventually finding a new life in Scottville. Told through the framework of two train rides from Scottville to Detroit in the 1940s, the book explores family relationships, friendship, perseverance and the importance of community.
George Wilson said he initially considered naming the book “A Train Out of Sweetland,” a reference to one of Scottville’s original names. But he ultimately decided the story belonged to Scottville.
“It’s Scottville’s story,” he said.
Wilson’s father was born in Detroit in 1930. His parents divorced when he was about 3 years old, and his childhood was marked by instability and abuse at the hands of his father, a Detroit police officer, and his stepmother.
Known as “Skip” Wilson during his childhood, he moved between relatives and attended seven different schools before coming to Mason County in 1944.
His extended family arranged for him to live on a farm on Mavis Road near Fountain, where two of his uncles had purchased property. His younger sister, Joanne, was unable to make the move because of chronic health problems.
George arrived in Mason County at age 13, turning 14 that summer before entering Scottville High School as a freshman.
For the first time in his life, he began developing lasting friendships and a sense of stability.
He played football and basketball, ran track and served as a statistician for the baseball team. Among his closest friends were Bob Murphy and Lowell Hankwitz.
But his new life was threatened when his relatives decided to sell the farm and return to the Saginaw area after about 15 months.
George refused to leave.
“He just made a decision that he was going to be on his own,” Wilson said.
Still only a teenager, George remained in Scottville, living with friends and occasionally staying in quarters provided by farms where he worked.
The Murphy and Hankwitz families became particularly important in his life. Gus and Mabel Hankwitz opened their home to him, as did Pat and Marguerite Murphy.
Wilson said the Hankwitz home was jokingly called the “Hankwitz haven for wayward boys.”
His father took whatever jobs he could find to support himself.
He worked at the Scottville railroad depot for station agent Clarence Schweitzer, loading and unloading freight cars for $1 per car. He shoveled snow, worked on farms, set bowling pins at the bowling alley in downtown Scottville and took summer employment at Roach Canning Company.
He also wrote sports stories for the Mason County Press, a weekly newspaper that operated in Scottville at the time (namesake and inspiration for this online news publication).
Wilson said his father tried to pay his own way, purchasing his clothes and meals whenever possible.
Several adults helped him along the way, including Mabel Hankwitz, her sister Blanche Brown and Marguerite Murphy.
Scottville High School faculty members also played important roles, including teacher Earl Keith, principal Dick Dimlow and superintendent A.O. Carlson.
Those relationships became central to Wilson’s novel.
The first of the book’s two train rides takes place in June 1946, “Big George” learned that his father, also named George was seriously ill in Detroit.
His father had sustained a severe head injury during the 1943 Detroit race riot and subsequently experienced deteriorating health.
George borrowed money for a train ticket and boarded what was commonly known as the milk train, an overnight railroad service that departed Ludington and made numerous stops on its way to Detroit.
During the fictionalized journey, he reflects on his difficult childhood, his family and the people who helped him establish a new life in Scottville.
The second train ride follows Big George and his best friend, Bob Murphy, as they travel to Detroit for their U.S. Air Force induction physicals.
During that trip, the two young men reminisce about their high school years and the experiences that shaped their lives.
Among those memories is the early history of the Scottville Clown Band.
“Big George” was among the high schoolers recruited into the band for the 1947 Scottville Harvest Festival.
Wilson said his research included newspaper accounts from the Ludington Daily News documenting the festival and the musicians who participated in the band during its early years.
The book includes a chapter about the Clown Band’s development and the roles of Ray Schulte and Scottville school superintendent A.O. Carlson in recruiting Clown Band members. “Big George” would often tell the story about how Carlson didn’t ask Wilson to become the band’s leader but he was rather told he would be taking on the task, a role he held for the next 65 years until he passed away in 2012.
Wilson said many Scottville readers will recognize familiar family names, businesses, teachers and locations throughout the novel.
Although based on actual people and events, Wilson emphasized that “Two Trains From Scottville” is a novel rather than a biography or memoir.
Much of the material came from stories his father shared with his family over the years.
“’Big George’ was a storyteller,” Wilson said, recalling evenings when his father would entertain family members with accounts of his youth.
Those stories provided the foundation for the book, but Wilson had to create dialogue, develop relationships and fill in gaps where historical records and family recollections were incomplete.
“I had to create the dynamics of the relationships that were involved,” he said.
He also researched historical newspapers and spoke with people who had connections to his father’s childhood.
Wilson began writing the novel in 2023, spending approximately two and a half years completing the manuscript, editing it and preparing it for publication.
One of the central themes is “Big George’s” complicated relationship with his mother, Patricia, who was born in Liverpool, England.
Following his parents’ divorce, George had limited opportunities to see her.
Wilson said his father sometimes rode a bicycle across Detroit to visit his mother at Hudson’s department store, where she worked.
The novel builds toward George’s 1948 graduation from Scottville High School, when family members from Detroit attended the ceremony.
Wilson found a newspaper account documenting the visit, which provided the basis for one of the novel’s concluding scenes.
For Wilson, the book is ultimately about the transformation of a troubled Detroit boy into the man many people in Scottville came to know as Big George Wilson.
He hopes readers who knew his father will recognize his personality and storytelling voice.
“What they may not know is the boy who went from being ‘Skip’ Wilson from Detroit to ‘Big George’ Wilson here in Scottville, and what the transformation entailed,” Wilson said.
George F. Wilson went on to serve Scottville and Mason County in many ways. He was well-known for his morning talk show on WKLA radio. He was the advertising manager at the Ludington Daily News; he wrote a weekly column for the newspaper as well. He was a big supporter of local school sports. He was a member of several fraternal and service clubs. He served as an elder at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church. He served on the Mason County Central Board of Education. He was the secretary of the Scottville Clown Band. And, he was the mayor of Scottville, the city that adopted him.
More than a decade after his father’s death, Wilson said he hopes the novel does justice to the stories he grew up hearing.
“Two Trains From Scottville” was published by Spines Publishing and is available through online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The book is available in paperback, hardcover and electronic editions. An audiobook, featuring an artificial intelligence-generated narration based on Wilson’s own voice, is expected to be released soon.
Wilson said he also plans to approach bookstores in the area about carrying the novel. He said he also plans on donating a copy to the Mason County District Library.
George C. Wilson is a graduate of Mason County Central High School and, like his father before him, is one of the street leaders of the Scottville Clown Band. Wilson recently retired as a school librarian from Rockford Public School District. He lives in the Grand Rapids area with his wife, Ellen, and they have a home in Ludington as well.
This is Wilson’s second novel. His first book, “Owen 9” tells the story about a high school football team that had a losing season of 0-9. Many of the characters and events were inspired by Wilson’s youth growing up in Scottville.
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