From horse-drawn wagon rides to school through five decades of tending majestic trees at the gothic Traverse City State Hospital, Earle Steele colorfully and compassionately shares tales of life and how it was lived at The Asylum, a city-within-a-city that once housed 3000 mentally ill patients. In a series of letters to his granddaughter, this groundskeeper's son recounts a childhood of befriending patients and his years as gardener, grounds superintendent and museum curator at an institution where the dictum was "beauty is therapy." Earle E. Steele was born in Farmington, MI on March 14, 1914. his family relocated to Traverse City, MI when his father accepted the Head Gardener position at the Traverse City State Hospital in 1922. In 1934 he began employment with the hospital. Throughout his 49 1/2 years of employment, he served in many capacities in the greenhouse area. He spent the last 12 years of his employment as 6x9" 86 pages includes black and white photos and art from Steele