Islands of Deception

In the early 1980s I was a student at Michigan State University majoring in journalism. As part of my minor in political science, I did an internship at the Michigan capitol in Lansing with my State Representative. A couple mornings each week I worked in his office on the ground floor of the capitol. I became very familiar with the capitol building as I attended hearings, committee meetings and visited the offices of other legislators. One of my favorite spots was to stand on the glass floor under the dome and look up at the stars painted high above on the interior dome.

Years later, when I was offered a behind-the-scenes tour of the capitol, I jumped at the chance to see parts of the capitol I did not get to visit during my internship. My daughter and I were treated to a tour that took us to many unseen areas, including a stairway between the inner and outer dome of the capitol. At the top of that stairway, we were able to see up-close the painted stars at the top of the dome as well as the glass floor several stories below that gives the appearance of a dome. 

When I wrote Islands of Deception, I used a lot of this first-hand experience with the capitol in several scenes in the book. Unfortunately, behind-the-scenes tours are no longer offered. The capitol dome was open to the public until the 1950s when it was closed by the fire marshal due to safety concerns. While the limited tours like the one I had years ago are no longer available, you can still take a virtual tour of the upper levels of the capitol dome.