Painted Turtle – serie

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Grace, Grit, and Glory details the history of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as seen through the prism of the city it has called home for nearly 130 years. Now one of America’s finest orchestras, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra began in 1887 as a rather small ensemble of around thirty-five players in a city that was just emerging as an industrial powerhouse. Since then, both the city and its orchestra have known great success—in musical artistry for the symphony, and economic influence for the city. They have each faced crises as well—financial, social, and cultural—that have forced the DSO into closure three times, and the city to the brink of dissolution. Yet somehow, in the face of adversity, the DSO stands strong today, a beacon of perseverance and rebirth in a city of second chances.This is the first history of the DSO to document the orchestra from its earliest incarnation in the late nineteenth century to its current status as one of the top orchestras in the country. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra tells the story of the organization—the musicians, the musical directors, the boards, and the management—as they strove for musical excellence and the consistent funding and leadership to achieve it in the changing economic and cultural landscape of Detroit. Author Laurie Lanzen Harris, with DSO historian Paul Ganson, explores the cycles of glory, collapse, and renewal of the orchestra in light of the city’s own dynamic economic, demographic, and cultural changes.Any reader with an interest in Detroit history or the history of American symphony orchestras should have this book on his or her shelf.

Detroit's architecture reflects Detroit's role in the early years of the twentieth century as the country's leading industrial center, the place where, with the rise of the automobile industry, the future was happening. The metropolitan Detroit area was also home to some of the largest private fortunes assembled in the modern age. All of this is visible in the cutting-edge structures built to serve the needs of the modern business community that was committed to innovation and new processes. Detroit's public buildings, its museums, libraries, schools, and monuments, are second to none in terms of their overall scale, materials, and detailing. Hotels, stores, theaters, and other commercial venues display a breezy cosmopolitanism consistent with the city's position as both a technology hub and a crossroads of immigration. Yet despite this remarkable legacy, many of downtown Detroit's architecturally significant buildings are under threat of demolition and have been placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2005 list of America's most endangered landmarks. ??AAAmerican City: Detroit Architecture??A A, 1845-2005, is intended to showcase a Detroit that might surprise many readers and bring long-overdue attention to the city's heritage of fine design. In 90 stunning full-color photographs, the book documents the innovative features of fifty of Detroit's most impressive buildings. An introductory essay offers an overview of the city's architectural history and outlines the social forces and the personalities that helped shape the city's built environment. The heart of ??AAAmerican City??AA, however, is the photography, which brings Detroit's architecture to life in gorgeous detail. Accompanying text identifies each building and provides basic information such as date, location, and architect, pointing out features that make the building of particular interest and importance.

During the 1950s, the Detroit Lions were one of the most glamorous and successful teams in the National Football League, winning championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957, and regularly playing before packed houses at Briggs Stadium. In When Lions Were Kings: The Detroit Lions and the Fabulous Fifties, journalist and sports historian Richard Bak blends a deeply researched and richly written narrative with many rare color images from the decade, re-creating a time when the Motor City and its gridiron heroes were riding high in the saddle.Representing a city at its postwar peak of population and influence, coach Raymond "Buddy" Parker and such players as Les Bingaman, Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, Yale Lary, Joe Schmidt, Jack Christiansen, Jim Doran, Lou Creekmur, and Leon Hart helped sell the game to a country discovering the joys of watching televised football on Sunday afternoons and Thanksgiving Day. Quarterback Bobby Layne and halfback Doak Walker were celebrity athletes during this golden age of pro football-a decade when the game first started to replace its slower-paced cousin, baseball, as the national pastime. While the quietly modest Walker was a darling of Madison Avenue advertisers, the swaggering Layne became the first NFL player ever to grace the cover of Time magazine.Along with detailed profiles of the players, coaches, and games that defined the Lions' only dynastic era, Bak explores such varied topics as the team's languid approach to desegregation, the wild popularity of bubble gum trading cards, and the staggering physical cost players of the period have suffered in retirement. When Lions Were Kings is a lively portrait of the golden age of professional football in Detroit that will delight younger fans and inform die-hard followers of one of the NFL's oldest franchises.

The railroad’s arrival in the 1870s tranformed the formerly sleepy Little Traverse Bay region into a tourist mecca. Victorian resort communities and the growing towns of Harbor Springs and Petoskey provided lodging, dining, entertainment and supplies to an influx of settlers, speculators and tourists who visited in the summer or stayed year-round. Over the decades, cars have replaced trains and steamships and many structures have been preserved, altered, or demolished, but Little Traverse Bay, Past and Present shows that the area’s history is still very much a part of the present day. Featuring contemporary images by Rebecca Zeiss, over three hundred historic (most never before published) photos and historical narrative by Michael R. Federspiel, this volume documents both the development of the tourist economy and also serves as a snapshot of the region today.Little Traverse Bay, Past and Present is divided into chapters by place and topic. Federspiel and Zeiss look at the cities of Petoskey and Harbor Springs; the resort associations of Bay View, Wequetoning and Harbor Point; and railroads, steamships and excursions. Along the way, they visit historic hotels, public buildings, residences, commercial districts and waterfront areas. At many sites, Zeiss’s beautiful and precise photos show that the historic views are still as they were; at others, they are hidden behind facades or structural alterations. Sometimes the historic sites are simply gone, replaced by something totally new or an empty lot. Federspiel also includes an introduction on the making of modern Little Traverse Bay and introduces the leaders and businessmen behind it.Popular tourist regions often boast beautiful souvenir photo books or history books addressing their past. Little Traverse Bay, Past and Present is both, making it of interest to visitors and local residents alike who want to learn more about the area’s nineteenth-century history as well as those interested in its appearance today.

While researching his previous study, Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II (Wayne State University Press, 2013), award-winning automotive historian Charles K. Hyde discovered the many remarkable photos that were part of the era’s historical documentation. In Images from the Arsenal of Democracy, Hyde presents a selection of nearly three hundred of these documentary photos in striking black and white, with brief captions. Taken together, the images create a captivating portrait of this crucial moment in American business, military and cultural history.Images from the Arsenal of Democracy spans from 1940 until the end of the war, presenting up-close, rarely seen views of newly built plants and repurposed production lines, a staggering variety of war products and components and the many workers behind Detroit’s wartime production miracles. The human faces that Hyde presents are especially compelling, as photos show the critical role played by previously underused workers - namely women and African Americans. Images from the Arsenal is divided into chapters by theme, including "Preparing for War before Pearl Harbor"; "Planning Defense Production after Pearl Harbor"; "Aircraft Engines and Propellers"; "Aircraft Components and Complete Aircraft"; "Tanks and Other Armored Vehicles"; "Jeeps, Trucks, and Amphibious Vehicles"; "Guns, Shells, Bullets, and Other War Goods"; "The New Workers"; and "Celebrating the Production Achievements".The first comprehensive and detailed history drawn solely from the surviving photographic record of wartime Detroit, Images from the Arsenal will be appreciated by automotive historians, World War II scholars and American history buffs.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the look and feel of cemeteries in the United States changed dramatically, from utilitarian burial grounds to the serene parklike spaces that we know today. The so-called park cemetery was innovative not only for its distinctive landscape architecture but also because its staff designed, ran, and maintained the cemetery, which led to a very consistent appearance. By the mid-1800s, the influence of park cemeteries began to spread from big cities on the East Coast to the Midwest - eventually producing fifteen transitional examples in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In The Art of Memory: Historic Cemeteries of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Thomas R. Dilley details the history of Grand Rapids’ park cemeteries, finding that their development mimicked national trends and changing cultural beliefs about honoring the dead.Dilley begins by outlining the history and evolution of cemetery design from its earliest days to the present, including information about key design elements and descriptions of important designers. He continues by introducing readers to the fifteen historic cemeteries located in the city of Grand Rapids, detailing their histories, formats, and developmental changes along with more than two hundred photos. The cemeteries are divided between public and private properties, and are discussed chronologically, according to the dates of their founding. Dilley also considers the artistic and architectural forms that appear in the Grand Rapids cemeteries, including a thorough discussion of the religious and decorative symbols used on markers, the use of sometimes florid epitaphs, and variations in the form, structure, and materials of cemetery markers of the time. A brief section on the future of the cemetery and an extensive list of bibliographic sources and suggestions for further reading round out this informative volume.Readers with roots in Grand Rapids as well as those interested in social and cultural history will enjoy The Art of Memory.

A photographically rich biography of protean architect Albert Kahn.Building the Modern World: Albert Kahn in Detroit by Michael H. Hodges tells the story of the German-Jewish immigrant who rose from poverty to become one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. Kahn’s buildings not only define downtown Detroit, but his early car factories for Packard Motor and Ford revolutionized the course of industry and architecture alike.Employing archival sources unavailable to previous biographers, Building the Modern World follows Kahn from his apprenticeship at age thirteen with a prominent Detroit architecture firm to his death. With material gleaned from two significant Kahn archives—the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library and the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution—Hodges paints the most complete picture yet of Kahn’s remarkable rise. Special emphasis is devoted to his influence on architectural modernists, his relationship with Henry Ford, his intervention to save the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts (unreported until now), and his work laying down the industrial backbone for the Soviet Union in 1929—31 as consulting architect for the first Five Year Plan.Kahn’s ascent from poverty, his outsized influence on both industry and architecture, and his proximity to epochal world events make his life story a tableau of America’s rise to power. Historic photographs as well as striking contemporary shots of Kahn buildings enliven and inform the text. Anyone interested in architecture, architectural history, or the history of Detroit will relish this stunning work.

The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth. The more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout the basin provide some of the best ways to enjoy the Great Lakes. While the vast majority of these islands can only be reached by private boat or plane, a surprising number of islands-each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history-can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure explores in depth over 30 of the Great Lakes Basin islands accessible by bridge or ferry and introduces more than 50 additional islands. Thirty-eight chapters include helpful information about getting to each featured island, what to expect when you get there, the island's history, and what natural and historical sites and cultural attractions are available to visitors. Each chapter lists special island events, where to get more island information, and how readers can help support the island. Author Maureen Dunphy made numerous trips to a total of 135 islands that are accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin. On each trip, Dunphy was accompanied by a different friend or relative who provided her another adventurer's perspective through which to view the island experience.Great Lakes Island Escapes covers islands on both sides of the international border between the United States and Canada and features islands in both the lakes and the waterways that connect them. Anyone interested in island travel or learning more about the Great Lakes will delight in this comprehensive collection.

Heaven Was Detroit: From Jazz to Hip-hop and Beyond is the first of its kind to capture the full spectrum of Detroit popular music from the early 1900s to the twenty-first century. Readers will find in this unique and stimulating anthology new essays, and a few classics, by widely known and respected music writers, critics, and recording artists who weigh in on their careers and experiences in the Detroit music scene, from rock to jazz and everything in between. With a foreword by the acclaimed rock writer Dave Marsh and iconic photos by Leni Sinclair, the book features such well-known writers as Greil Marcus, Jaan Uhelszki, Al Young, Susan Whitall, Gary Graff, John Sinclair, and many others.Divided into nine sections, the book moves chronologically through the early days of jazz in Detroit, to the rock ’n’ roll of the 1960s, and on to today’s electronica scene, with so many groundbreaking moments in between. Topics in this collection of essays include Motown’s connection to the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement through its side label, Black Forum Records; Lester Bangs’s exemplary piece on Alice Cooper; the story behind the emergence of rap legend Eminem; and Craig Maki’s enlightening history on ""hillbilly rock"" — just to name a few. With a rich musical tradition to rival Nashville, Detroit serves as the inspiration, backdrop, and playground for some of the most influential music artists of the past century.Heaven Was Detroit captures the essence of the Detroit music scene: the grit, the spark, the desire to tell a story set to the rhythm of the city. Fans of any music genre will find something that speaks to them in the pages of this collection.

After several years as a small-town lawyer in Alpena, Frank J. Kelley was unexpectedly appointed Michigan’s attorney general at the end of 1961. He never suspected that he would continue to serve until 1999, a national record. During that time, he worked with everyone from John and Bobby Kennedy to Bill Clinton and jump-started the careers of dozens of politicians and public figures, including U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Governors James Blanchard and Jennifer Granholm. In The People's Lawyer: The Life and Times of Frank J. Kelley, the Nation’s Longest-Serving Attorney General, Kelley and co-author Jack Lessenberry reflect on the personal and professional journey of the so-called godfather of the Michigan Democratic Party during his incredible life and thirty-seven years in office.The People’s Lawyer chronicles Kelley’s early life as the son of second-generation Irish immigrants, whose father, Frank E. Kelley, started out as a Detroit saloon keeper and became a respected Democratic Party leader. Kelley tells of becoming the first of his family to go to college and law school, his early days as a lawyer in northern Michigan, and how he transformed the office of attorney general as an active crusader for the people. Among other accomplishments, Kelley describes establishing the first Office of Consumer Protection in the country, taking on Michigan’s public utility companies, helping to end racially restrictive real estate practices, and helping to initiate the multibillion-dollar Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998.Kelley frames his work against a backdrop of the social and political upheaval of his times, including the 1967 Detroit riots, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. All those interested in American history and legal history will enjoy this highly readable, entertaining account of Kelley’s life of public service.

With over 500 carefully selected photographs, the fifth edition of The Detroit Tigers vividly illustrates the history of major league baseball in Detroit from 1881 through the 2014 season. Author William M. Anderson presents highlights and lowlights of each Tigers season and gives a context for appreciating the careers of the many players whose images grace the pages of the book.In thirteen chapters, The Detroit Tigers covers the team’s history decade by decade. Anderson surveys the Tigers’ earliest days, formidable championship teams, and legendary players, and updates this edition with the team’s exploits since the 2008 season. He details the recent star-studded Tigers cast, including Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Victor Martinez, and David Price, and looks at the team’s four consecutive Central Division titles, 2012 pennant win, and seasons of record-breaking attendance, despite its disappointments in deeper post-season play. Anderson has searched to find the most interesting and rarely seen photos for this volume, visiting all major repositories of baseball photographs as well as private collections. Presented chronologicallywith ample description, the photos form the core of this impressive book.The Detroit Tigers also includes a foreword by former Tigers shortstop and later, manager, Alan Trammell. Tigers fans old and new will appreciate the exhaustive history and striking images in this volume.

Since 1887, Detroit’s Eastern Market, the largest open-air market of its kind in the United States, has been home to an amazing community of farmers, merchants, and food lovers. Specialty shops, bakeries, spice companies, meat and poultry markets, restaurants, jazz cafés, old-time saloons, produce firms, gourmet shops, and coldstoragewarehouses cover Eastern Market’s three square miles. Its many streets and vendors reflect the varied cultures and ethnicities that have shaped the city of Detroit.In this third edition of Detroit’s Eastern Market, authors Lois Johnson and Margaret Thomas recount the history of the market with additional stories and personal accounts of families who have worked and shopped there for as many as four generations. The authors have updated store information and added new restaurants and businesses to their original listings, reflecting the changes and additions that have taken place in Eastern Market since the previous edition in 2005. Richly illustrated with all new photos, Detroit’s Eastern Market features more than a hundred pages of delightful recipes (including 17 new ones) from market retailers, farmers, chefs, and customers.

A David and Goliath conservation story set on Lake Michigan.

A celebration of Michigan craft beer.Brewed in Michigan: The New Golden Age of Brewing in the Great Beer State is William Rapai’s ""Ode on a Grecian Urn""—a discussion of art and art’s audience. The art in this case is beer. Craft beer. Michigan craft beer, to be exact. Like the Great Lakes and the automobile, beer has become a part of Michigan’s identity. In 2016, Michigan ranked fifth in the number of craft breweries in the nation and tenth in the nation in craft beer production. Craft brewing now contributes more than $1.8 billion annually to the state’s economy and is proving to be an economic catalyst, helping to revive declining cities and invigorate neighborhoods.This book is not a beer-tasting guide. Instead, Rapai aims to highlight the unique forces behind and exceptional attributes of the leading craft breweries in Michigan. Through a series of interviews with brewmasters over an eighteenth-month sojourn to microbreweries around the state, the author argues that Michigan craft beer is brewed by individuals with a passion for excellence who refuse to be process drones. It is brewed by people who have created a culture that values quality over quantity and measures tradition and innovation in equal parts. Similarly, the taprooms associated with these craft breweries have become a conduit for conversation— places for people to gather and discuss current events, raise money for charities, and search for ways to improve their communities. They’re places where strangers become friends, friends fall in love, and loversget married. These brewpubs and taprooms are an example in resourcefulness—renovating old churches and abandoned auto dealerships in Michigan’s biggest cities, tiny suburbs, working-class neighborhoods, and farm towns. Beer, as it turns out, can be the lifeblood of a community.Brewed in Michigan is a book for beer enthusiasts and for people who want a better understanding of what makes Michigan beer special. Cheers!

Essay’d: 30 Detroit Artists highlights the individual contributors to Detroit’s thriving and diverse art scene. Stemming from the popular website of the same name, Essay’d seeks to introduce readers to some of the contemporary art practitioners who live and work in Detroit or have participated in the Detroit art scene in an important way. Even those familiar with Detroit and its art ecosystem are sure to find new insight and perspective on artists that have made their careers in Detroit.Four arts writers within the Detroit art scene—a professor, a gallerist, and two critics—create an ongoing series of short essays that focus briefly and intensely on standout artists. This blending of critical sensibilities and interests provides a unique perspective on a diverse place, offering many points of interest and access to one of the most vital and intriguing art environments in the country. While many artists have helped to grow and shape the local art tableau, the authors selected thirty for this volume, including Signal Return’s artistic director Lynne Avadenka; ""The Detroit Portrait Series"" artist Nicole Macdonald; 2012 DLECTRICITY performers Tzarinas of the Plane; and 2013 Kresge fellow Carl Wilson to name a few. This book is not a systematic attempt to identify the ""best"" or ""most important"" Detroit artists, or even to define what those terms mean. The position the essays take to their subjects is not critical but neither is it reverential. The objective is to create a platform for Detroit artists, not a pedestal.Essay’d is an excellent introduction to the Detroit art landscape, as well as an opportunity to deepen one’s knowledge of the Detroit art scene and its players. Art lovers and regional history buffs will not want to miss this collection.

A photographic tour of the Detroit Public Library’s rich art and architectural history.

Examines relationships between black and white Detroit residents through the lens of 1967, fifty years later.

Showcases the bold, innovative, and colorful architectural designs of Alexander Girard.During the midcentury period, Michigan attracted visionary architects, designers, and theorists, including Alexander Girard. While much has been written about Girard’s vibrantly colored and patterned textiles for Herman Miller, the story of his Detroit period (1937-53)—encompassing interior and industrial design, exhibition curation, and residential architecture—has not been told. Alexander Girard, Architect: Creating Midcentury Modern Masterpieces by Deborah Lubera Kawsky is the first comprehensive study of Girard’s exceptional architectural projects, specifi ally those concentrated in the ultra-traditional Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe.One exciting element of the book is the rediscovery of another Girard masterpiece - the only surviving house designed entirely by Girard, and former residence to Mr. and Mrs. John McLucas. Restored in consultation with iconic midcentury designer Ruth Adler Schnee, the McLucas house represents the culmination of Girard’s Detroit design work at midcentury. Stunning color photographs capture the unique design elements—including the boldly colored glazd brick walls of the atrium—reminiscent of Girard’s role as color consultant for the GM Tech Center. Original Girard drawings for the building plan, interior spaces, and custom-designed furniture document the mind of a modernist master at work and are made available to the public for the first time in this beautiful book.Alexander Girard, Architect is a beautiful, informative book suited for enthusiasts of Alexander Girard, the midcentury modern aesthetic, and Detroit history, art, and architecture.

A pictorial history of Detroit through postcards.Greetings from Detroit: Historic Postcards from the Motor City offers a glimpse into the past through more than two hundred historic postcards of Detroit from the early 1900s to the 1950s, compiledand presented in full color by Dan Austin of HistoricDetroit.org. From familiar sights to long-lost landmarks, this book pairs vintage views with rich stories from the Motor City’s yesteryear. In the era before cameras became commonplace, postcard shops were everywhere—allowing folks to send snapshots of their travels to friends and family, or to take home as mementos. Many of these old postcards are now sought-after collectibles today, offering a rare look back at a time of tremendous growth and change across Detroit during the first half of the twentieth century. Divided into six sections, Greetings from Detroit showcases the changing times and interests of the city—highlighting some of the distinct neighborhoods, including Midtown, southwest Detroit, and the downtown area. A portion of the book is devoted to Detroit’s parks, with special interest in Belle Isle, Palmer Park, Clark Park, and Water Works Park. The book also shines a light on the majestic steamers that often dotted the Detroit River. Greetings from Detroit gathers some of the best, most illustrative postcards in one place and—for the first time, in full color—frames them alongside meticulously researched writing, offering context and stories behind each image. It is a history book. It is a picture book. It is a window into the history of Detroit.As the city grows and changes, there is value in observing a Detroit that is frozen in time. This beautiful collection would make an excellent conversation piece in the home of any local history aficionado.

Thirty illustrated essays highlighting a variety of Detroit artists.Essay’d 2: 30 Detroit Artists follows the welcome reception of last year’s Essay’d: 30 Detroit Artists in presenting short, illustrated essays about artists who live and work in Detroit, or who have participated in the Detroit art scene in an important way. Stemming from the popular website of the same name, the first volume of Essay’d sought to introduce readers, even those who are well versed in the Detroit art ecosystem, to new insight and a fresh perspective on the city’s contemporary art practitioners. The four arts writers behind Essay’d—a professor, a gallerist, and two critics—are joined in Essay’d 2 by a handful of guest writers, whose unique views offer different points of access to Detroit’s diverse and populous artist community.Essay’d 2 offers thirty new profiles of artists both well known and under the radar, seasoned and emerging. Advancing the argument that there are as many kinds of Detroit art as there are individual artists, the authors write about work created in a wide range of media, from painting, photography, ceramics, and textiles to performance, installation, and architectural intervention, produced in a kaleidoscopic array of individual styles. Some of the artists this volume highlights include S. Kay Young, an attendee of the College for Creative Studies with a thirty-year photography career; multimedia artist Adam Lee Miller, who is one half of the band ADULT; fiber artist and 2015 Kresge fellow Carole Harris; and master staff carver/mosaicist David Philpot.While Detroit has long been home to a storied and industrious community of artists, there has been relatively little writing that explores, analyzes, and contextualizes their work. Now, with renewed regional, national, and international attention being paid to Detroit and its creative culture, it is more important than ever that the evolving and vital work of the city’s artists be documented and made known to the wider public. The new essays collected here, written in a format that is at once in-depth and accessible, continue the authors’ ongoing mission to introduce the Detroit art community to the world, one artist at a time. Art lovers and regional history buffs will appreciate this continued conversation.

A compelling look at the contemporary art and artists that are transforming Detroit’s physical landscape.

Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling is a deeply personal and intimate memoir told through the lens of Harvey Ovshinsky's lifetime of adventures as an urban enthusiast. He was only seventeen when he started The Fifth Estate, one of the country's oldest underground newspapers. Five years later, he became one of the country's youngest news directors in commercial radio at WABX-FM, Detroit's notorious progressive rock station. Both jobs placed Ovshinsky directly in the bullseye of the nation's tumultuous counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. When he became a documentary director, Ovshinsky's dispatches from his hometown were awarded broadcasting's highest honors, including a national Emmy, a Peabody, and the American Film Institute's Robert M. Bennett Award for Excellence. But this memoir is more than a boastful trip down memory lane. It also doubles as a survival guide and an instruction manual that speaks not only to the nature of and need for storytelling but also and equally important, the pivotal role the twin powers of endurance and resilience play in the creative process. You don't have to be a writer, an artist, or even especially creative to take the plunge, Ovshinsky reminds his readers. ""You just have to feel strongly about something or have something you need to get off your chest. And then find the courage to scratch your own surface and share your good stuff with others."" Above all, Ovshinsky is an educator, known for his passionate support of and commitment to mentoring the next generation of urban storytellers. When he wasn't teaching screenwriting and documentary production in his popular workshops and support groups, he taught undergraduate and graduate students at Detroit's College for Creative Studies, Wayne State University, Madonna University, and Washtenaw Community College. ""The thing about Harvey,"" a colleague recalls in Scratching the Surface, ""is that he treats his students like professionals and not like newbies at all. His approach is to, in a very supportive and non-threatening way, combine both introductory and advanced storytelling in one fell swoop.

Thirty illustrated essays highlighting a variety of Detroit artists.Essay’d 3: 30 Detroit Artists is the third volume in a series of collections that present short, illustrated essays about artists who live and work in Detroit or who have participated in the Detroit art scene in an important way. Stemming from the popular website of the same name, Essay’d 3 seeks to introduce readers to new insight and a fresh perspective on the city’s contemporary art practitioners. The arts writers behind the original Essay’d—a professor, a gallerist, and a critic—are joined in Essay’d 3 by twelve guest writers. This remarkable multiplicity of voices enlarges and enriches the overall scope of this ambitious project as it grows to become ever more inclusive of Detroit’s astonishingly rich and diverse art community.Essay’d 3 offers thirty new profiles of artists both well-known and under-the-radar. Each artist is profiled by a writer with an avowed interest in and enthusiasm for that artist’s work and each essay takes into account biography, context, interpretation, and analysis of individual artworks. Certain themes emerge in this collection, including a turn toward more performing artists, as well as a recurrent concern with the use of the body as a surrogate for social conditions. Some of the artists highlighted in this volume include Richard Lewis, a portrait painter and ""keen-eyed explorer of souls and their discontents""; photographer Lauren Semivan, who works inserial aggregates of thirty or more black-and-white images, shot with an early twentieth-century, large-format, tripod-mounted camera; experimental performance artists The Hinterlands (Liza Bielby and Richard Newman); and Tom Phardel—sculptor, ceramist, and curator—who has served as teacher and chair of ceramics at the College for Creative Studies for thirty years.With renewed regional, national, and international attention on Detroit and its creative culture, it is more important than ever that the evolving and vital work of the city’s artists be documented and made known to the wider public. Art lovers and regional history buffs will appreciate this continued conversation.Featured artists: Susan Aaron-Taylor, Carla Anderson, Jeanne Bieri, Sophie Eisner, Gary Eleinko, Ed Fraga, Eli Gold, Oren Goldenberg, Cynthia Greig, Matthew Angelo Harrison, The Hinterlands, Sydney G. James, Laith Karmo, Nicola Kuperus, Richard Lewis, Billy Mark, Tiff Massey, Allie McGhee, Carole Morisseau, Sabrina Nelson, Tom Phardel, Sharon Que, Yvette Rock, Gary Schwartz, Lauren Semivan, Donita Simpson, Maya Stovall, Andrew Thompson, Millee Tibbs, Timothy Van Laar.

Northern Harvest: Twenty Michigan Women in Food and Farming looks at the female culinary pioneers who have put northern Michigan on the map for food, drink, and farming. Emita Brady Hill interviews women who share their own stories of becoming the cooks, bakers, chefs, and farmers that they are today-each even sharing a delicious recipe or two. These stories are as important to tracing the gastronomic landscape in America as they are to honoring the history, agriculture, and community of Michigan.Divided into six sections, Northern Harvest celebrates very different women who converged in an important region of Michigan and helped transform it into the flourishing culinary Eden it is today. Hill speaks with orchardists and farmers about planting their own fruit trees and making the decision to transition their farms over to organic. She hears from growers who have been challenged by the northern climate and have made exclusive use of fair trade products in their business. Readers are introduced to the first-ever cheesemaker in the Leelanau area and a pastry chef who is doing it all from scratch. Readers also get a sneak peek into the origins of Traverse City institutions such as Folgarelli's Market and Wine Shop and Trattoria Stella. Hill catches up with local cookbook authors and nationally known food writers. She interviews the founder of two historic homesteads that introduce visitors to a way of living many of us only know from history books.These oral histories allow each woman to tell her story as she chooses, in her own words, with her own emphasis, and her own discretion or indiscretions. Northern Harvest is a celebration of northern Michigan's rich culinary tradition and the women who made it so. Hungry readers will swallow this book whole.

Aretha was private. I respected this and she trusted me. Linda Solomon met Aretha Franklin in 1983 when she was just beginning her career as a photo journalist and newspaper columnist. Franklin's brother and business manager arranged for Solomon to capture the singer's major career events-just as she was coming back home to Detroit from California-while Franklin requested that Solomon document everything else. Everything. And she did just that. What developed over these years of photographing birthday and Christmas parties in her home, annual celebrity galas, private backstage moments during national awards ceremonies, photo shoots with the iconic pink Cadillac, and more was a friendship between two women who grew to enjoy and respect one another.The Queen Next Door is a book full of firsts as Solomon was invited not only to capture historical events in Aretha'smusic career showcasing Detroit, but to join in with the Franklin family's most intimate and cherished moments in her beloved hometown. From performance rehearsals with James Brown to off-camera shenanigans while filming a music video with the Rolling Stones, from her first television special to her first time performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to her last performance with her sisters at her father's church and her son's college graduation celebration. In the book's afterword, Sabrina Garrett Owens, Franklin's niece, honors her aunt, a woman who wasan over whelming supporter of civil rights, women's rights, and fundraising campaigns that helped to benefit her hometown. There was a time in her career-when Franklin was more in demand than ever before-when she insisted that if someone wanted her to perform, they had to come to Detroit. During this time all of her majorconcerts, national television specials, music videos, and commercials would happen in Detroit. Aretha Franklin showed her respect for the people in the city who championed her from the very beginning when she started singing as a young girl in the church choir. Franklin used to say, ""I am the lady next door when I am not on stage.""The Queen Next Door offers fans a personaland unseen look at an extraordinary woman in her most natural moments-both regal and intimate-and highlightsher devotion to her family and her hometown Detroit-""forever and ever.