About

Writer. Creator. Historian. Author.

In 2013, I made the shift from academic and professor to full-time writer and historian. Since then, I’ve crafted stories for World Literature Today, NBC, Punch Magazine, VinePair, Tales of the Cocktail, Thrillist, Detroit Metro Times, Eater Detroit and Hour Detroit, among others. I’ve carved out a niche in the social and material history of bars and alcohol — or, as I like to call it, Barchaeology.

I am passionate about history — Detroit history in particular — and have given lectures at historical societies, private clubs, museums and libraries. I spend my summers as a Lakelorian — Ship Lecturer — on a cruise around the Great Lakes. I offer custom-designed tours of Detroit by bus or on foot and lecture about Great Lakes and Detroit history and culture.

My work has been featured in the Detroit Free Press, BarItalia magazine, and on the Discovery Channel’s Mysteries of the Abandoned. In 2025, I was a finalist for a James Beard Award in Journalism.

Let’s tell some great stories together! For inquiries about rates and availability, please see Contact page or email me at mickeylyons12 at gmail.