About

What are we?
Superior Woman is the premiere online magazine for women living, working, and playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (that’s the upper hand, for those of you who like to use your hands to show locales in Michigan!) and the Lake Superior region of the United States.

Our stories and features are written and designed to show off all of the fun and interesting Superior Women who can be found in the Lake Superior region!

Who are we?
Superior Woman is owned and operated by the Dynamic Duo husband and wife team AKA Patti Samar and Dale Hemmila of Port Huron. Even though they now live downstate, they spend an awful lot of time in the U.P. visiting family and close friends.

Both displaced Yoopers, the Samar-Hemmilas are both long-time professional communicators.

The Ms…
Samar is an award-winning writer and graphic designer who also publishes the quarterly print publication Blue Water Woman magazine in Port Huron. She also owns and operates a writing, graphic design and marketing consultation firm in Port Huron known as The Write Company. Though she grew up in Marquette and identifies as a Yooper and Superior Woman at heart, she has resided in Port Huron for more than 25 years.

The Mister…
Hemmila is a recent transplant to the lower peninsula who joined his wife in the Blue Water Area of Michigan following retirement from Cleveland Cliffs, where he served as director of public affairs for North America (and we hear that is a very, very big place!). Prior to his 35-plus years as a Cliffs’ employee, Hemmila worked as an award-winning broadcast news journalist at various radio and television stations in the Upper Peninsula, including a stint at WDMJ-AM in Marquette and WLUC-TV6 of Marquette.

Yooper education rocks!
Both are graduates of Northern Michigan University in Marquette, where Hemmila received a bachelor of science degree in speech communication and Samar received both a bachelor of science in English and a master of arts degree in English/magazine writing.

What do we like to write about?
Together, the Dynamic Duo wants to share the stories of the Superior Women in the Upper Peninsula and on the shores of Lake Superior. They especially like to feature stories about women who are not normally in the spotlight (although they are not shy about featuring those women who are always in the spotlight, too!).

How and where do we do all of this cool writing ‘n stuff?
But most of all, Samar and Hemmila love Great Lakes life. They live on the shores of Lake Huron, where Samar sails, kayaks, uses her paddleboard and drinks wine. She is creative, liberal, and sometimes, most notably, grumpy.

Hemmila prefers to sit on the beach, drink beer, and stare off into space. He is also creative, won’t call himself liberal but he is coming around from the Dark Side, and makes it his life’s mission to keep his wife happy. It’s amazing he has time to get any work done, as that is a full-time job. 😉

Per above, the couple does spend a tremendous amount of time in the Upper Peninsula, where both of them, always, feel like they are truly “at home.” After all, it is a Superior Location. So, if you see them out and about, please do not hesitate to stop and say hello!