Jill Rothenbueler Maher grew up jogging, biking and cross-country skiing with her family in southeast Wisconsin. After moving to Washington, D.C., she enjoyed the Washington and Old Dominion Trail and logged countless hours training for duathlon races. Back in Milwaukee, she enjoys sunrise runs and Saturday rides with friends on the Oak Leaf Trail. She regularly writes for the Bay View Compass and has degrees from the University of Minnesota and Georgetown University. Milwaukee County's Oak Leaf Trail is her first book.
Maher's concise book (roughly 140 pages of text and 16 pages of
illustrations) is truly the seminal work on the Oak Leaf Trail for
no other study has tackled the topic before.
Even the recently completed Encyclopedia of Milwaukee has entries
on bicycling, parks, and land use and planning, but offers no
treatment specifically of Milwaukee's foundational and most
widely-used recreation infrastructure. For this reason alone,
Maher's book should be applauded for filling the gap in our
historical understanding and will easily become a favorite read for
any Milwaukeean with even a passing interest in bicycling or local
history.
Following a delightful and mood-setting introduction, Maher's book
is organized into three parts. The first of these operates
essentially as the core of the study as it uncovers with great care
the historical evolution of the Oak Leaf Trail, from its embryonic
phase in the late 19th century all the way to contemporary
improvements that have been implemented in just the last few years.
It is in this part of the book where Maher's attention to detail
and skill at crafting a cohesive historical narrative really shine.
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