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Publisher revives journalist's memoir of mental hospital

A publisher is bringing back a 1950's memoir written by a journalist who spent 45 days in a Traverse City psychiatric hospital.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle says Mission Point Press is donating $1 from each book sale to a local historical society to help create a permanent exhibit of artifacts from the old Traverse City State Hospital.

"How Thin The Veil" was written by Jack Kerkhoff after he checked into the hospital for severe depression. Mission Point Press business manager Doug Weaver says the book was the "perfect snapshot" of the hospital at the time.

Kerkhoff died in 1958. The hospital was eventually closed and converted into The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a combination of retail, housing and restaurants.

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