On December 14, 2020, I posted a piece: I’ve Been Reading. I had ambitious plans to read more during the Christmas break between semesters. I had a book by William Saroyan, Rock Wagram, which Harry Kezelian suggested as the next Saroyan I should read. I had bought a book that an article I read somewhere suggested as good holiday read: Naïve. Super. by Erlend Loe, a Norwegian writer. From having watched Ford v Ferrari several times, I became obsessed with learning more about Henry Ford II and Detroit during his time as the lead Ford Motor. I bought two books: Henry: A Life of Henry Ford II by Walter Hayes. Amazon suggested that I also buy Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story by David Maraniss.
I had these books queued up. In other words, they were stacked on an end table in my study. I read the Loe book. It started slow and got better. It was about a disillusioned graduate student that quit, basically everything, to find himself. It had a refreshingly positive air about it. I thought it was written recently and thus a commentary on the late 2010s. I was kind of surprised to learn that it was written in 1996. It could have been written in 1968. In essence, it is a timeless book which why it seems to be so popular.
After finishing the Loe book, I started reading the Henry Ford II, the Maraniss book on Detroit, and Rock Wagram books at the same time. Rock Wagram fell by the wayside quickly but still in the queue. It was interesting to read the Henry Ford II biography and the Maraniss book on Detroit at the same time. The Walter Hayes book is a good read but basically an homage, a tribute piece, on The Deuce. This was not a huge surprise given that Hayes was a public relations executive at Ford Motor Company. The Maraneiss book was not unkind to The Deuce and provided a good counterpoint to the Hayes book.
I loved the Marinass book. He took just one year that he believed was pivotal in the history of the city and wrote about all the major events. The year was 1963. In actuality the book began in late 1962 and finished up in early 1964. I was ten years old and lived in the city at the time.
The book began with the fire that the destroyed Ford Rotunda in late 1962 and the demise of the Gotham Hotel a center of black culture and gathering in the city, the civil rights march featuring Martin Luther King, the rise of Motown, the racial tensions in the city, the Kennedy assassination, the failed bid to become the host city for the 1968 Olympics, and much more. The city was riding high, the auto industry had a banner year, and the future looked bright. But, 1963 was a peak year of the post-World War II history of the city. The seeds of issues thatwould cause the 1967
While I was not born in Detroit, I lived there from the age of 2 until 37 when work took me to New York/Connecticut and then to Chicago where I currently live. I lived in Detroit for 35 years and elsewhere for 33.
My time in Detroit were special as they were my formative years, the years of adolescence, my entire education, my family, my friends. I was married there. My children were born there. There were things I loved about Detroit and Southeastern Michigan that engrained in my memories and have contributed to who I am. There are also aspects that I would have changed if I could. I imagine almost everyone could make similar statements about where they live and where they grew up. These books gave me a perspective on the era that my ten-year-old self didn’t have.
In March of 1963, a report was issued by Wayne State University’s Institute for Regional and Urban Studies. The study, “The Population Revolution in Detroit, was led Albert J. Mayer, sociologist. The report, in retrospect, was ominous. They forecast that Detroit would lose a quarter of it’s population in the next ten years. “Present population trends clearly demonstrate that the city is, by and large, being abandoned by all except those who suffer from relatively great housing, education and general economic depravations.” It foretold what would be called white flight from the city and the subsequent erosion of the city’s tax base that would lead to the near collapse of the city that culminated with the 2013 declaration of bankruptcy. The report, per Maraniss, got little press coverage or credence.
Leaving Detroit was not easy. In retrospect, it was the best thing I could have done for my career and thus arguably for my family. I probably wouldn’t have had the corporate success I have had if I had stayed in Detroit and worked in the auto industry. I loved working in automotive, but New York, Colgate-Palmolive, and the consumer goods industry was more suited to my personality and temperament. Moving to Chicago, minus a couple of years in the depth of the Great Recession, was also a great move. I fulfilled a dream of being a college professor. It is the best retirement career or hobby, I am not sure which actually, I could ask for.
It is fascinating to be studying the history of the great city I grew up in.
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