From sturgeon to shad, pike to pickerel, carp and people who carped about carp, the fish tells us a lot about the way we live in Detroit. Today: the magnificent whitefish.
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Visiting the grave of Alexander Macomb, hero of the Battle of Plattsburgh, namesake of Wayne County, painter, playwright, son of a swindler, and decorated early Detroiter.
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Celebrating General Friend Palmer's birthday with "whiskey in the gentlemen's dressing room, and champagne in the supper room."
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The Detroit Drunken Historical Society takes over the side room at Slows to talk about the city's mutable past. And I'm giving a reading at the Farmington Public Library on May 10.
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A picture book of spring in Detroit. Historical glimpses of weather patterns. A poem about Lake Erie. Plus, it's Opening Day.
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Have a drink, learn about Detroit's original badass, then get together to banish our little red devil in high historical spirits.
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Why are we called "Wolverines"? You've heard the stories about the Toledo War and greedy land-grabbing settlers. Here's one more idea, from an old tavern in Dearborn.
Read more →The story of an escaped slave living and working in Detroit.
Read more →If you're planning to join in the drunk lecture on Wednesday, please note a venue change! We had so much interest that Foran's won't fit all of us.
Read more →Get out your calendar! Here's where I'll be in the next couple of weeks.
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Part 2: From Germany, to Milwaukee, to Atlanta, to Detroit: the cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta.
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Starting around 1850, Detroiters could pop into Old City Hall or the Firemen's Hall and, for 25 cents or so, see the latest "greatest painting ever made" — sweeping views of overland route to California, the funeral of Napoleon, Bible scenes, the life of George Washington.
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The Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839, is the oldest in the country. Its home on Belle Isle is crumbling, compelling, and calls home centuries of water sport.
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The historic Belle Isle Aquarium, closed since 2005, opens for one day only during Shiver on the River.
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Henry Ford and Thomas Edison had neighboring seaside summer homes (and a research lab) in Florida. We visited.
Read more →I will be reading tomorrow (Wednesday) night as part of Wednesday Night Sessions. Vievee Francis and Jeff Kass are also reading. It will be great.
Read more →''Blake ... stood in mortal fear of death and from the cholera in particular. He went to Milwaukee to escape the latter, but unfortunately he did not.''
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