​​​​​​​"Harnack captures the special quality of life in Wisconsin's North Country. ... If the writing is regional, it's in the broad spectrum of such writing that includes authors such as Sherwood Anderson." -- Robert W. Wells, Milwaukee Journal Book Editor

"You are doing in print what it seems Seurat and Renoir did in oil on canvas: vibrating with the stuff of everyday living and feeling but in your case with a lively sense of value." -- Lester Mondale, Philosopher (brother of Walter Mondale)

"Poignant, reminded me of my own life. The mystique of the Northwoods." -- Antler, Milwaukee Poet Laureate, Recipient of the Walt Whitman Award

Like grapevines and cocoa beans that reflect through their flavor the soil and water in which they grow, some places become part of a person's emotional and mental fabric. The evocative, elegiac stories comprising Links of the Chain present the human threads woven through a small northern Wisconsin town. The tales span decades, with characters disappearing and re-emerging, forging, severing or repairing links, bound together by the vibrations and ethos of the remote northern woods and water. Reading the book feels at turns like watching the flickering 8mm films of home movies, flashes of a familiar past linking up with the present. Sherman, Wisconsin is the stage, the foundation and steadfast witness to life, death, loss, love and memory. -- Rebecca Murphy, Ludington, MI

"Absolutely loving your book." -- William Cansdale, former Mayor Village of Lancaster, NY 

​​​​​​​As a kid in the back seat, making the long trek from Buffalo to the grandparents' cabin in northern Wisconsin, Will loved the small towns. Majoring in Geography, it was in the lit classes where he began to live in places such as Winesburg, Yoknapatawpha, Horton Bay, Brewer. Some of these chapters were written in those early days, and some recently to complete the mosaic. The themes are well-trod --home and rootlessness; love, longing and loss; and the individual's place in the natural world, in his or her community, as well as within his or her own interior self. Will James Harnack has worn many hats, writer, house painter, magazine and corporate editor, historic preservation
commissioner, webmaster, music concert producer, son, husband, father, and hopes for time for much more.