My New Novel about Detroit in the 60s

[Thomcat52]

I was a 14 y.o. boy sitting on the floor, looking out of a second story window that faces Medbury St. My hands are resting on the stock of a 12 ga. pump shotgun which is propped against the window sill. It is 2:00 am, and I am struggling to stay awake, and alert. Suddenly my dad's voice breaks the silence on the walkie talkie "you awake"? He is downstairs in the front bedroom which faces Grandy St. armed with a 30.06 deer rifle.
My 'orders' were really quite simple, and clear. Anyone, no matter who, or how many, simply strikes a match, even to light a cigarette, aim dead center, and empty the gun! Thankfully, no one came by for 3 nights during the curfew, except the jeep patrols.
I don't know for certain if I would have shot anyone, but the man who gave me those instructions was not one to be questioned, or disobeyed. I did receive a good beating on the 4th morning, having fell asleep sometime during the night.
We moved out of Detroit the following year to Monroe. Those 5 years on Grandy, and Medbury will always stand out in my memory.

[Susan Messer]

Thom,
Hard to know what to say in response that doesn't sound trite. But that experience you describe is from an entirely different world [[almost universe) than the one I lived in. Where else but on an online forum like this one would I have had an opportunity to hear that directly? Not many places. I do appreciate this.

Susan

[Bobl]

Thomcat:

Has it changed much?

Medbury St & Grandy St
Sorry the link didn't work. I looked at the Google photo and noticed that most of the homes are gone, and there is a burned out building a block away. Perhaps you know the building?

I was a few years older, and had just moved to the Cass Corridor/Wayne State area. Left the suburbs upon graduation from High School. Too quiet. Too calm. Too boring.
Things certainly changed fast!

[Thomcat52]

Didn't mean to hijack this thread. I am going to order Susan's book, as it relates to a lot of neighborhoods at that time. I will try to load a couple of pics of the house that used to be there.

[Thomcat52]

'67 Mustang. Apologize for the blur. Little sisters fault.

[Thomcat52]

Thomcat:

Has it changed much?

Medbury St & Grandy St
Sorry the link didn't work. I looked at the Google photo and noticed that most of the homes are gone, and there is a burned out building a block away. Perhaps you know the building?

I was a few years older, and had just moved to the Cass Corridor/Wayne State area. Left the suburbs upon graduation from High School. Too quiet. Too calm. Too boring.
Things certainly changed fast!

That was a Lays potato chip factory in the 60s. It is in the discuss Detroit forums. Originally a bakery i believe.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=4...12,287.63,,0,5

[Susan Messer]

I didn't think you highjacked the thread, Thomcat. Perusing the conversations on this forum has shown me how little I really knew/know about Detroit. And your story is an important [[and scarey) one.

Like Bobl, I checked google maps to see what that intersection looked like and suspected the neighborhood was significantly different back then. Thanks for the photo. And thanks for your interest in the book.

Choosing the title was a complex process and not really up to me in the end, but I think the publisher made a good choice. The name Grand River and Joy resonates with Detroit people in a very powerful way. And for non-Detroiters it conjures something mysterious and grand and joyous.

[bumble]

Hi Susan,
Just wanted to let you know that your book is doing very well at the store I work at, Book Beat. We ordered a nice, big shipment as soon as it came out. Bill is a good friend of the store, in fact, he has recently joined our Book Club.

If any Detroit yes readers are interested, stop in at Book Beat at 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park, or call [[248) 968-1190. You can support a local independent instead of going to Amazon. We're near the Bread Basket deli. A fellow independent retailer just opened up next door, Streetcorner Music [[relocated from 13 Mile in Beverly Hills), so if you like books and music [[they specialize in soul and jazz mostly) you can have a pretty fun little outing and top it off with a corned beef sandwich as big as your head, if you so desire.

EDIT*Oh, I see you are having a signing here in October. Well, you know, no one ever tells me anything! Should be fun, especially with the photo exhibit. See you in October!

[Susan Messer]

Bumble,

Thanks for mentioning the Book Beat, and letting me know that the book's selling well. You have such a cool, atmospheric store. And I'm so looking forward to the reading, there. My parents used to live around the block, and they always shopped at the Book Beat. Lots of their old friends and family are around, so it should be a good crowd. And it will be my first chance to meet Bill Rauhauser. As I've been doing readings, I have gotten so many compliments on that beautiful cover photo of his. Still can't believe my luck in having found him and his work.

Susan

[Thomcat52]

Just ordered from amazon, can't wait.

[Susan Messer]

Thank you so much, Thomcat. I'll be curious to hear your response [[I think).

Susan

[vetalalumni]

I actually cannot easily discuss the topic. I'll manage ... to read the "Boy" chapter in a few days. Feedback will follow. Purchase may, as well. Good luck regardless.

Sincere apologies for not responding in a timely manner. Contrary to my previous promise, I will not be reviewing the "Boy" chapter. I cannot adequately or easily describe why to you here. Nonetheless, wishing you well with your book and hope your readers find it rewarding.

[Susan Messer]

Veta,

Thanks for posting at any rate. If you care to send a private message, you can do that through my website. www.susanmesser.net

If not, I understand too. Sorry if I've stirred up bad memories.

Susan

[Susan Messer]

Several Michigan bookstores are hosting readings for me in October [[see below). Please come if you can, and definitely introduce yourself. Thanks.

Weds, Oct. 21, 7:00
Schuler Books & Music
Eastwood
2820 Towne Center Blvd.
Lansing, MI 48912
http://www.schulerbooks.com/

Thurs, Oct. 22, 7:00
Common Language Bookstore
317 Braun Court
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
[[734) 663-0036
http://glbtbooks.com/

Sun, Oct 25, 2:00
Book Beat
26010 Greenfield, Oak Park, MI 48237
248-968-1190
http://www.thebookbeat.com/

[Susan Messer]

Forgot to mention one additional thing about the Book Beat event. The book store will also have on display in the backroom gallery a small selection of Detroit images by photographer Bill Rauhauser, whose photograph graces the cover of my novel.

Here's the announcement from the Book Beat newsletter:

The Book Beat will be exhibiting a small selection of the vintage Detroit street photography of Bill Rauhauser beginning on October 3rd and continuing through mid-November. This exhibition is geared to coincide with the annual "Detroit Art Now" exhibits and to celebrate the publication of Grand River and Joy, the novel and signing by Susan Messer and the location where Bill Rauhauser sold newspapers as a young boy. Bill Rauhauser, born in Detroit in 1918, received a bachelor degree in Architectural Engineering in 1943 from the University of Detroit. He spent 18 years in the engineering field before a career change into the field of education. Over the next 30 years, Bill taught photography at The Center for Creative Studies [[now College for Creative Studies), with 5 years as guest lecturer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Wayne State University. He was appointed Professor Emeritus by CCS and is currently serving as Artist Advisor for the Board of Directors of the Graphic Arts Council of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Book publications of his photographs include: Detroit Revisited [[2000); Bob-Lo Revisited [[2003); and Detroit Auto Show Images of the 1970s [[2007). He has also co-curated a number of exhibitions for the Detroit Institute of Arts, including “The Car and the Camera� in 1996. Art Detroit Now is a loose collective of area galleries, museums and exhibition spaces that gather once or twice a year to have simultaneous openings that bring to focus this areas appreciation of the arts and the fine artists who contribute to our cultural richness.

[RealityCheck]

Grand River & Joy earns prominent attention today as one of two new novels presenting "a vivid glimpse of the city during tumultuous times." [[The Art Student's War by Brad Leithauser is the other.)

The sense of loss in Messer's book is palpable. Messer describes the Dutch colonials, the red-stone Georgians and towering elm trees lining the streets of her Detroit in loving detail.

Whitall quotes a West Bloomfield reader who recommended the book to her parents, raised in Detroit.

"My father had a drugstore on Eight Mile and Livernois during the '67 riots, and I remember going down when I was 9 or 10. Just like in the book, his store had not been touched. His customers, black and white, liked him, and so they protected it."

See full article here.

[Susan Messer]

Reality,

Thanks so much for bringing this to the attention of DetroitYes.

Susan

[1KielsonDrive]

I missed your readings by a mile. Didn't see this link much lately. I read your book and enjoyed it immensely. Of course, it helps that I have a connection to the neighborhood. I go back occasionally to try to put things in perspective. Not much luck in that department. Thank you for a very enjoyable read. Please put my email address on your list for future readings and books. 1KielsonDrive@live.com

[Susan Messer]

Thanks, Kielson. I will put your name on my email list. I've got another series of events in the Detroit area in March and May. They're all listed on my blog, called the Discomforts of Diversity. You can get to it through my website.

http://www.susanmesser.net/

Re: having [[or not) a connection to the area. I got an email today from a woman in Wales who read the book, knew nothing about the era, and felt both educated and moved by the story.

[1KielsonDrive]

Without a doubt, your story telling would be enjoyable to any readers. I liked your character development and intertwining relationships. It was especially important that you told the variations of people feelings, reactions and decisions about the city and it's various ethnic residents. In the end, it didn't boil down to how loved or hated Detroit was by some, there were other, more important considerations for where to live and work. And they weren't all racially based. That was the most important connection I took from it. And it was the closest to my heart.

[Susan Messer]

Thanks so much. Hope to meet you at some point. A couple people came to the Book Beat reading who had "met" me here. It was very cool.

[RealityCheck]

Thanks so much for bringing this to the attention of DetroitYes.

You're as attentively polite as you are creatively gifted, Susan. Meanwhile, Susan Whitall waves the flag again today:

Holiday Gift Guide: 13 great books to consider

"Grand River & Joy" by Susan Messer: Set in Detroit's west- and northwest-side Jewish neighborhoods just before the 1967 riots, and afterward, Messer's book is a dense read, but provokes memories for longtime Detroiters about blockbusting, white flight and other issues of the time. For those too young to remember, it's a window on middle and upper middle class life in Detroit at the time.

[Susan Messer]

Aw, shucks, RealityCheck. So very kind of you.

[Susan Messer]

Thanks in large part to people from Detroit Yes, my book is almost sold out in hardcover, and coming out very soon in paperback. Amazon already has it available for pre-order, but you can also ask for it at your local bookstore. Thanks!

[Susan Messer]

Here's a cool event coming up at Marygrove on March 18. Please come if you can.

I'll also be reading at the Detroit Public Library on March 20--the Douglass Branch on Grand River.

Susan Messer
Fiction
Saturday, March 20, 2:00 p.m.
“With unsparing candor, Susan Messer thrusts us into a time when racial tensions sundered friends and neighbors turned families upside down. The confrontations in Grand River and Joy are complex, challenging, bitterly funny, and—painful though it is to acknowledge it—spot-on accurate.� -Rosellen Brown.

Douglass Branch
3666 Grand River, Detroit, MI 48208
313-833-9714

Hope to meet some of you there.
Susan