New Book: Wicked Detroit

[Jimaz]

This looks like fun.

New book highlights less heroic tales of Detroit’s creation

"I think we have such a deep history, in Detroit in particular, that can be told better through our missteps than our triumphs,” said local historian Mickey Lyons. “In this case, it’s the history of Detroit as told through bad guy biographies.”

Lyons, a blogger at the helm of ProhibitionDetroit.com, recently released her latest foray into the city’s past with “Wicked Detroit,” a collection of stories detailing the more amusing and questionable efforts of infamous Detroit historical figures....

But if you’re looking for some juicy details in “Wicked Detroit,” just like in anyone’s past, you’ll find them.

“Charles Bowles. He is the only mayor of Detroit to be recalled, and it took less than nine months for him to be recalled,” she said. “He was put into power by the Ku Klux Klan, and he never denied they supported him. They had burning cross rallies for him. I couldn’t find one redeeming trait for him.”

Familiar names make appearances in Lyons’ book: Joseph Campau, a corrupt businessman so unruly he was excommunicated by the Catholic church, and Augustus Woodward, an eccentric judge known for his reputation as a lush. And there are some lesser-known figures, like Lyons’ personal favorite, the bartenders.

“Barkeeps were corrupt, occasionally violent, and occasionally cheated and stole and hung out with criminals. But they were just so charming,” she said. “Like Al Capone was kind of a hero among Chicagoans because he provided soup kitchens during the Depression, bars were the first place many immigrants turned to to find their community after they arrived. The bar was your bank, your post office, your special gathering hall all rolled up into one.”...

Wicked Detroit

[kathy2trips]

Mickey Lyons is a scholar of Detroit boozeology. Here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Detroi...40_&dpSrc=srch

[archfan]

When I searched for Wicked Detroit, I also found Wicked Women of Detroit, by Tobin T. Buhk. That one looks interesting, too.

[Honky Tonk]

When I searched for Wicked Detroit, I also found Wicked Women of Detroit, by Tobin T. Buhk. That one looks interesting, too.

I've dated a few in my time.

[Henry Whalley]

Barkeeps...were just so charming.

Here's a nice photo of Tom Poyma who tended bar at Jacoby's. Later he was manager at the Bayview Yacht Club but he humbly kept his rubber ducky at the Polish Yacht Club. He had the best old-timey mustache, his nickname was 'Mustache Tom' and he was a real charming mensch.

[txlady]

I used to enjoy an after-work drink at Leiters, across from the GM Bldg. It was years later, after I moved out of state, that I found out it started as a Blind Pig.