Detroit's Ghost Town Delray and O-So Memories

O-So pop was a local Detroit soft drink sensation bottled in Delray at 8559-61 W. Jefferson Ave. Not as famous as Vernor's Ginger Ale but just as beloved. John Kar's bottling works opened in 1922, located north of the Peerless Cement factory and just south of the old Delray Bridge onto Zug Island, also known as the "one way bridge" no longer in use.

Adults from the Baby Boomer generation remember that O-So was the bargain pop of our day. The clear-glass bottled soft drinks were colorful and the flavors were fabulous. Linda J. Kulczyk remembers watching the mechanized bottle filler in action. "The place smelled like bleach and sugar water. Rock and Rye was my favorite flavor," she wrote on the Old Delray facebook site.

Other popular flavors were creme soda, lemon-lime, cherry, grape, strawberry, root beer, and orange. I don't believe they had a cola drink, though I could be wrong about that.

John A. Stavola, Jr. remembers "as a kid, they bottled the soda right there and the dude (perhaps Ed Kar, son of the founder) used to fish right out of the back window of the place." Diana Bors McPeck used to work there when she was young. Her grandparents were friends with the owners. Diana recalls, "I was paid in pop!"

One of the old timers working the same shift as me at the Zug Island coke ovens was nicknamed 'Pop'. He would buy several cases of assorted flavors of O-So pop every day in the spring and summer and roll them in from the parking lot on a hand truck (dolly) with a cooler full of ice. Pop sold the stuff for a dollar a bottle, a 400% markup. He also sold salted peanuts in the summer and fresh roasted chestnuts in the winter. On a hot day, everyone was glad to hear him call out "COLD POP." He was a door machine operator on the receiving end of the ramming machine. For the life of me, I can't remember his real name. Everybody just called him Pop.

When I worked as a laborer at Zug Island in 1967, the Delray downtown area already showed signs of two decades of neglect. Many of the shops and second story residences became little more than tenements for transient workers. After the Detroit Riots in July, the writing was on the wall for Delray. Like many other Detroit neighborhoods, White flight went into hyper-drive.

It is always sad to see an established community fall into ruin and abandonment. But almost one hundred years of history and heavy industry had taken its toll on the Delray neighborhood and turned it into what it is today, a virtual ghost town within the Detroit city limits. 

Delray lost its ethnic heart and soul in the sixties and seventies. What was once a vibrant European mixture of Hungarian, Slovakian, and Polish immigrants dispersed among the Detroit suburbs, notably the Downriver areas of Allen Park, Lincoln Park, and Wyandotte.

Now, all that's left of the Delray neighborhood are mostly memories and photographs fading in family albums. Remember any of these places? First Slovak Church (Holy Redeemer), St. John's Catholic Church, The Hungarian Village Bakery, Hevesi Cafe (with dining and dancing), Joey's Stables, Fox Hardware, Szabo's Meat Market, Delray Baking Company, Al's Bar, Kovac's Bar, and King's Chinese Restaurant. They are gone but not forgotten.

Realistically, Delray is zoned for heavy industry and will never recover as a viable residential area. But I could be wrong. What impact the new Gordie Howe International Bridge will have on Delray is yet to be known or felt, but it marks a new age for Delray. One thing is for certain, the area is ripe for redevelopment.

For more detailed information on the community of Delray, check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delray,_Detroit

Samuel Zug - The Man Behind the Island

Samuel Zug

Samuel Zug is thought by some people to have been an industrialist, but that couldn't be further from the truth. He was a devout Presbyterian who took an interest in politics and human rights.

In 1836 at the tender age of twenty-years-old, Samuel Zug came to Detroit, Michigan from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Using money he saved as a bookkeeper in the Pittsburgh area, he went into the furniture making business with Marcus Stevenson, a Detroit investor.  

The prospect of endless stands of pine, oak and maple trees as raw material, and convenient access to Eastern markets by way of the Detroit River for their finished products made Detroit an ideal place for a young man to make his fortune. 

But in 1859 after twenty-three years in the furniture business, his partnership with Stevenson was dissolved leaving Samuel Zug a wealthy man to pursue real estate and political ambitions.

In 1859 (or 1876 depending on which source you choose), Samuel Zug purchased 325 acres of land along the Detroit River from Michigan's second Territorial governor, General Lewis B. Cass. Over 250 acres of the parcel was marshland with a sulfur spring bubbling up 1,200 barrels of mineral water a day.

The marshy peninsula of land was a part of Ecorse Township before it became the city of River Rouge. In unrecorded time, the land was rumored to be an ancient burial site for a number of native American tribes known to inhabit the area.

Samuel Zug and his wife Anna built a home on the island, but after ten years they decided that the marshland and natural sulfur spring on the site proved too much for them to endure. The Zugs surrendered the land to the red fox, water fowl, muskrats, and mosquitoes. The croaking frogs and singing insects were left to serenade the damp night air because the island was virtually uninhabitable.

In 1888, Samuel Zug authorized the River Rouge River Improvement Company to cut a small canal at the south end of his land. Known by locals as Mud Run, it was dredged out sixty feet wide and eight feet deep. 

Short Cut Canal at bottom of map was Mud Run.

The Zug family peninsula became a man-made island overnight separating it from the north end of Ecorse Township. The channel improved the flow of the Rouge River into the Detroit River, but it did little to circulate water around the newly formed island, leaving a slow-moving backwater.

On December 26, 1889, Samuel Zug died leaving his holdings to his wife, Anne, who died on June 10th,1891. It has been reported wrongly that Mr. Zug died in 1896. My source for the correct date of Zug's death comes from his tombstone in Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery.

The Zug heirs sold the island for $300,000 to George Brady and Charles Noble, who wanted to use the site for an industrial dumping ground. The island was diked with interlocking steel panels and back-filled with construction rubble and dredging waste to raise the ground above the water table and reclaim the land from its natural state.

Heavy industry was about to move onto the island but Mr. Zug never lived to see it. The island's namesake was "Waiting for the Coming of Our Lord" as the inscription on his grave marker proclaims.

In addition to being a bookkeeper and the owner of a successful furniture manufacturing company, Samuel Zug also is credited with being one of the founding members of the Republican Party, which was considered to be the progressive party of the day. Their first official meeting took place on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan.

The Republicans were an abolitionist party that came to national attention when they won 33% of the presidential vote from the Democrats and the Whigs in 1856. Four years later in 1860, they broke through the two-party system and elected Abraham Lincoln to the White House.

Samuel Zug was an anti-slavery advocate long before Lincoln was elected and The Civil War began. He bought and set aside a parcel of land for refugee slaves in the city of Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, a destination of the Underground Railroad. What other support he gave to the Abolitionist Movement is shrouded in the dim history of time and whispers of the unrecorded past.

At the time of his death, Samuel Zug was unaware of the mighty industrial complex his soggy marshland would become. He would never know the history Zug Island would make possible or the long-term environmental impact the steel industry would have on the area and its people.

In Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery

Zug Island closes its steel-making operations in April, 2020.            

The 1928 Delray Murder of Sportsman Gus Nykiel

A young Gus Nykiel next to his sister Martha. Their father John is wearing a hat. The woman in the striped dress is an unknown employee. They are standing in front of the family grocery store located at 8800 West Jefferson Ave. which became Joey's Stables named for Gus's youngest brother.

August "Gus" Nykiel (pronounced Nickel) was a popular local Detriot athlete who played semi-professional football for a team called The Delray Merchants almost one hundred years ago. The team's name was changed to the Detroit Tigers football franchise, but it failed after its first season with the National Professional League in 1921. Nykiel decided to sponsor the team which became a semi-professional powerhouse keeping the name. They played semi-pro clubs from around Michigan and the Midwest. The Tigers became regional champions and were the team to beat for several years. Nykiel became a popular, sporting world figure who had a sport's field named after him.

Gus Nykiel began his rum-running career shortly after Prohibition began. First, Gus and his three brothers--William, Frank, and Joseph--used a rowboat and made several trips a day hauling liquor and beer to the downriver area. The Nykiel brothers eventually built a fleet of speed boats and became some of the wealthiest bootleggers on the river. Gus and his brothers had ties to the Purple Gang's downriver distribution network.

Delray, Zug Island, the Detroit River, and the Rouge River.

Delray lies across the Zug Island channel and the Rouge River where boats could be unloaded and powerboats could evade Coast Guard patrol boats on the Detroit River. It was an ideal place to smuggle liquor. If a boat had to toss its load, burlap bags full with liquor bottles were tied with loops called rabbit ears. When the coast was clear, smugglers would come back with a grappling hook and retrieve their goods. Sometimes, local Delray and River Rouge boys would watch the evening gun battles between customs agents and smugglers from the shoreline. They would remember where the loads were ditched--usually near or on shallow sandbars. When the danger passed, the boys would dive in and retrieve what they could often selling the Canadian whiskey back to bootleggers.

***

On March 17, 1927, saloon owner Gus Nykiel was arraigned in federal court for reopening his saloon at 8631 West Jefferson Avenue which had been closed and padlocked on federal court order. Several undercover Prohibition officers made buys which resulted in the raid. Large quantities of beer, whiskey, and wine were seized. Nykiel was said to be the owner of four other places where liquor was stored and distributed: 8866 West Jefferson, 465 Clairpoint, 110 Henry Street, and 3021 Fourteenth Street.

Nykiel was released on $5,000 bail. When his case came to trial, he plead guilty to violating the padlock injunction and owning the property but denied ownership of the liquor. He admitted he knew it was stored in his business. Federal Judge Charles E. Simons fined him $1,000. The owners of the liquor were identified as Sam Kert and Sam "Sammy Purple" Cohen. They were under federal indictment for conspiracy to violate the Prohibition laws. The two Sammies were known mentors and associates of the Purple Gang.

***

Gus Nykiel

Nykiel's saloon was shut down permanently, but within a month, he opened a new location up the street at 8824 West Jefferson. At about 10:00 p.m. on June 27, 1928, Nykiel was parking his car in front of his saloon and scratched the paint of James Zanetti's car. Zanetti was a gunman from Chicago hired to extort money from bootleggers and speakeasy owners in the Downriver area for Pete Licovoli's East Side River Gang.

According to Gus's brother William, Zanetti began verbally abusing Gus, so Gus walked up and punched the out-of-town hood twice in the face. "I'll smack you again if you come around here looking for trouble. Tell your friends that Gus Nykiel hit you." Zanetti and Mike Dipisa--said to be gambler "Jimmy the Greek's" bodyguard--returned fifteen minutes later looking for Gus. The two men went into the saloon and spotted him behind the bar. Dipisa said he wanted to talk to Gus outside.

As soon as Nykiel stepped out the door, he was shot five times at close range and fell to the sidewalk. The shooters ran toward their getaway car. River Rouge Constable Edward A. McPherson happened to be in the saloon serving a summons when he heard the shots. With gun drawn, he stepped outside and exchanged gunfire hitting Dipisa. McPherson--for his pains--was shot in the upper jaw. Passerby, Mrs. Catherine Krozyck, was hit in the hand by a stray bullet.

Nykiel was taken to Delray Receiving Hospital where he died from his wounds. Dipisa was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital where he died from a shot to the head, the back, and his right eye. When police notified Mrs. Nykiel of her husband's murder, she wept at news. "Gus may have been a bootlegger," she said, "but he was a faithful husband and a good father."

Gus Nykiel's funeral service was July 2, 1928 at St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church in Delray. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Thousands of people paid their respects along the procession route to the cemetery. The majority of mourners were women, but underworld figures and police detectives were sprinkled among the crowd. 

Gus's younger brother William told Inspector Henry J. Garvin of the crime and bomb squad that he witnessed the shooting. At the inquest, William repeated what he saw. But Garvin thought that the murder was more than a road rage incident. The inspector told reporters he believed the East Side River Gang was trying to seize control of Nykiel's business interests and control smuggling on the Detroit River from Lake St. Clair to Monroe.

James Zanetti was arrested by two police officers after a short car chase and taken to Wayne County Jail. Because he attempted suicide in his cell, Zanetti was admitted to the psychopathic ward of Receiving Hospital, where he was heavily guarded and chained hand and foot to a hospital bed. Nurses reported that at intervals, he would shudder, roll his eyes back in his head, and quiver issuing long, drawn out moans. Psychiatrists believed Zanetti was mentally sick from "crime hysteria" or what was better known on the street as being "yellow." Dr. Polzker believed Zanetti's suicide attempt failed because he didn't have the courage to follow through with it.

The Zanetti trial was slated to begin on August 30th, but the prosecution's primary eyewitness--William Nykiel--could not be found. The case was postponed twice before Detroit police announced on September 8th that their key witness was hiding out for fear of his life in LaSalle, Ontario where they had no jurisdiction to extradite him. The prosecution proceeded without him. On September 13th, James Zanetti was acquitted of Gus Nykiel's murder. After the not guilty verdict was delivered, Zanetti and his lawyers were surrounded by back-slapping and handshaking from their underworld supporters.

Gus Nykiel left his widow and child an estate worth $55,000 which is over $800,000 in today's money.

My Summer in Detroit - 2013

Twilight in Detroit

I just returned from several weeks in and around my hometown of Detroit, Michigan. I was doing field research with my Detroit counterpart, Ryan M. Place. For the last several years, he and I have been seeking information and documents related to the John Norman Collins coed killing cases of the late nineteen-sixties.

I was in the Detroit area for three weeks in June and July and drove 2,300 miles in my rental car crisscrossing much of Michigan. Ryan and I went wherever we could to find individuals with credible information who were willing to tell their stories. We were very busy.

But because of the somber and dark nature of our subject matter, we made it a point to get out and do something a little different each week. The first week we went to the Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit to meet with Canadian filmmaker, Mark Dal Bianco. 

***

At Elmwood Cemetery for Zug shoot.

Mark is making an indie documentary film about Zug Island and its environmental effects on Canada and the United States. After a brief meeting with Stewart McMillin (noted Detroit tour guide), Mark Dal Bianco, and Ryan, we all headed to the burial plot of Samuel Zug, the man Zug Island is named after. 

On the strength of the introduction of my book, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, Mark wanted me to give a brief biography of Mr. Zug, at the site of his grave marker. 

When we were finished there, we drove over to the ghost town of Delray which once existed outside the blast furnace and coke oven plant. I filmed a segment talking about working conditions on the island in 1967, the year of the Detroit riots. 

The documentary will go on from there and delve into some of the current controversies Zug Island finds itself at the center of with its neighbors. Notably, the Windsor Hum.

We were very lucky to catch a break in the rainy weather for the shoot. Afterwards, we had a wonderful dinner at the Polish Village Cafe in Hamtramck, a city within the city limits of Detroit. It turned out to be a lovely day.

***

On the second week of our quest for knowledge and insight into the John Norman Collins case, we went on a field trip to where Collins began his life sentence behind bars, Jackson Prison. The Seven-Block (1934-2007) tour was led by prison docent Judy Gail Krasnow.

We were taken on a bus to the Michigan Theater in Jackson to view a short film history of the various incarnations of the Jackson prison system over the years, and then we listened to an orientation lecture before going over to Seven-Block. 

Our docent, Judy, asked the thirty or so people on the tour if any of us were from Jackson, Michigan. A smattering of hands went up. "Do we have any former guards or prison employees in the crowd today?" Several more hands went up.

Ryan and I were sitting in the front row when she asked me where I was from. "Originally from Detroit," I said, "but now I live in San Diego."

Old Jackson Prison Walls

"Really?" she said, in surprise. "I just returned from visiting friends in San Diego."

"No!"

Judy held up her Seaport Village shopping bag to prove it. "What, may I ask, brings you here to Jackson prison today?"

I was hoping she would ask me that. "I'm doing research and writing a book on John Norman Collins."

I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "You're kidding me."

"Nope!"

Turns out that Judy was given a private prison tour of Marquette Prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula just a couple of months before, and she was able to meet briefly with Collins in front of his cell. She found Mr. Collins to be alert and engaging. 

"Let's talk after the tour,"  she said, to me.

And talk we did. When The Rainy Day Murders is released, Judy will see about getting it carried in the prison stores. Not a bad outing for a field trip.

They serve a box lunch on the tour of Seven-Block in the prison mess area between the five galleries of cells that face across from each other. Nice touch!

For more information and reservations on Jackson Prison Tours, contact Judy Gail Krasnow at 517-795-2112, or check out the link below.

***

End of an era - old Tiger Stadium

I have a deep childhood memory of walking into a gray cavernous building that was dark and shadowy inside with screened ramps and overhead walkways. The air was heavy with tobacco smoke and stale with Strohs beer vapor. I remember walking along among a throng of adults mostly. I didn't know where we were headed for sure, but I followed my dad with my little brother in tow.

We finally made it. I saw the diamond for the first time and the vibrant field glistened like the emerald jewel it was. I came out into the comforting light of a Sunday afternoon Tiger game at Briggs Stadium. Man, I never knew a Coke, a hot dog, and a bag of peanuts could taste so good.

On the last week of my latest Michigan trip in July, I went with friends and saw my first Tiger game in the modern Comerica Park.  

The stadium is airy and open, not like the fabled Tiger/Briggs Stadium of the last century, and the cigarette and cigar smokers are gone.

After a week of heavy rain, the weather cleared on game day and Tigers fans were out in force ready to take on the White Sox.

But before the game started, my friends and I split a pizza and drank a couple of beers at a local bar to avoid the high cost of stadium concessions. 

In the old days, a person could have a great outing with ten or twenty dollars in his pocket. Now that's what a beer and a hot dog costs at the concession stands. Everything is expensive these days. But Detroit beat Chicago, so there was joy in Mudville, that night anyway. Go Tigers!

For information on the current schedule of Detroit tours, connect with Stewart McMillin's website: mcmillintours.com 

For information on Jackson Prison tours, contact: https://historicprisontours.com/category/uncategorized

For authentic Polish food in the Detroit area, go to Hamtramck and visit Polish Village Cafe: PolishVillageCafe.us 

Dame Fortune Winks - I Smile Back

All in a day's work at Zug Island.

I had just dropped into Detroit for the day to do a segment on Zug Island with Joe Rogan for his new show, Question Everything, premiering July 16th on the Syfy Network.

Immediately afterwards, I headed south down deserted W. Jefferson towards Downriver but decided to stop at the Zug Island sign and take a picture for a blog post on my trip while I was there. 

I swung my rental car into a small parking lot across the street between some abandoned Delray ruins and pointed the nose of the Japanese car towards the driveway.

Why I felt I needed another photo of the sign isn't clear to me, but I snapped a quick one and returned to my car, shut the door, and turned the key. In that small amount of time, a large car came out of nowhere and straddled my only escape route, a weed ravished driveway. 

My first thought was "Oh, shit! Welcome to Detroit."

The power window on the passenger side of the full size car went down and a white guy with a fancy camera said, "I see we are doing the same thing."

Not wanting to feel trapped, I got out of my car and engaged the person in a conversation. "What's your interest in Zug Island?" I asked as if it were any of my business.

Blast furnace being tapped at night.

"I'm making a documentary film about the environmental effects of Zug Island on the area."

"Fascinating," I replied.

"What's your interest in the sign?" he asked.

I told him I wrote a book called Zug Island:A Detroit Riot Novel. "I'm..."

"I know who you are. I saw your book on the Zug Island website, and I've read some of your blog posts." 

With that ice-breaker, we shook hands.

"Would you be interested in doing a few segments about Zug Island for the indie film I'm making?"

"Do steelworkers have dirt under their fingernails? Sure," I said. "But I don't live in the Detroit area anymore, I'm leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

We both looked disappointed. Then I was quick to add, "I'll be back in town in a few weeks doing research on my current project, The Rainy Day Murders, about John Norman Collins and the coed killings of 1967-1969 in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor."

"That works for me," he said. We exchanged contact information, and I waited a couple of days for a gmail with more information.

What this young filmmaker wants me to do is give a short biography of Samuel Zug at Zug's grave site and then do a couple of other segments about my experiences working on the island in 1967. Sounds easy enough.

Back then, the area was little more than a slum; now it is a ghost town, another casualty of rust belt technology impatient for redevelopment.

When completed, this film will be submitted to indie film festivals. Then, the producers hope to secure theatrical distribution and/or seek television broadcast opportunities. Whatever the outcome, it's a great experience for me that I couldn't miss.

I'm not one to believe in luck or fate, but if I'd been one minute sooner or later taking a picture of that sign, and if I hadn't been doing an interview with Joe Rogan that very morning on another project, I would have missed out on this opportunity. 

I think I'll put this experience down as dumb luck and follow Dame Fortune like a damned fool.

Is Zug Island Guilty of the Windsor Hum?

Joe Rogan and I upwind of Zug Island

Last week, I spent two days in scenic Detroit amidst the ruins of the ghost town of Delray and an icon of the rust belt, the industrial complex known as Zug Island.

I was there taping a segment for a new Syfy Network show called Question Everything hosted by Joe Rogan. It debuts on Tuesday, July 16th at 9/8c. See the link below for more details.

Joe is looking into the theory that the Windsor Hum keeping Canadian residents awake at night emanates from United States Steel's Zug Island blast furnace, pig iron operation across the Detroit River.

One theory has it that the annoying sound and vibration is coming from a secret installation on the island, connected somehow with the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska.

Work began on that sub-arctic government project in 1993. An array of high powered radio frequency transmitters covering an area of thirty-six acres excites a targeted portion of the ionosphere for scientific and military applications. What those applications are is not clear to the public which makes this program popular among conspiracy theorists.

The project is located in Gakona, Alaska, and it is funded by the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the University of Alaska, and the Defense Department. Its remote location contributes to the mystique of the project.

 Zug Island is on the United States/Canadian border and is considered by Homeland Security as a border installation, so security has been increased. 

While we were shooting my interview, a black SUV with heavily tinted windows watched our every move. The co-producer told me that the mystery truck had been following them at a distance for two days.

Because United States Steel refuses to comment on the HAARP allegations, it begs the question for many people, "What are they trying to hide?". For my money, the Windsor Hum controversy cuts a sorry figure as a conspiracy theory. It doesn't even make a credible urban legend. 

Now, what the government might be doing in the cavernous international Detroit Salt Mine, which runs far and wide under the area, is anybody's guess.

http://www.mmatko.com/joe-rogan-talks-about-his-new-syfy-show-joe-rogan-questions-everything/

http://fornology.blogspot.com/2013/05/zug-island-focal-point-of-windsor-hum.html 

Zug Island - Focal Point of Windsor Hum?

Zug Island from Windsor, Ontario

For the last several years, residents of Windsor, Ontario, have complained of a low frequency hum which rattles their windows and keeps them awake at night. Canadian scientists have pinpointed the source as Zug Island, an industrial complex on the United States side of the Detroit River.

Because the blast furnace and coke oven industrial complex is an international border installation, it has come under the aegis of Homeland Security. Surveillance has been beefed up and one of two entrances to the island has been blockaded and fenced off. The exaggerated security of Zug Island combined with the mysterious hum has led to a number of conspiracy theories. 

The SyFy Network is sending Joe Rogan to Detroit to look into this matter, and I've been asked to participate because of my previous on-the-job experience working there and my knowledge of the plant. The producers saw my book, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, and thought I could add something to their documentary. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this project is kookie enough to interest me.

To learn more about the the Windsor Hum, view the link below:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zug-island-the-story-of-the-windsor-hum

Gregory A. Fournier Speaks about Zug Island on the Michael Dresser Show

On Friday, April 19, 2013, I did a web radio interview for the Michael Dresser Show. It has been a while since I had done any live Zug Island promotion, but with summer coming, I thought it might be a good time to let readers know that Zug Island makes a great vacation read.

Despite its serious subject matter, race relations during the summer of the Detroit Riots, Zug Island is an often humorous account of a college dropout and an intercity young man who fall in and out of rhythm on Detroit's mean streets to discover that the face of racism comes in every shade of color.

Zug Island is a blue collar, coming of age, buddy novel which tells a slice of history much neglected in the telling of this horrible period of Detroit's history. It's been almost fifty years since July 23, 1967, and the city has yet to recover from its conflagration.


Amidst all the devastation, an unlikely friendship endures which suggests that hope for the city's recovery lies with its people and not its politicians.

Listen to my latest Zug Island web radio interview (15 minutes):
http://michaeldressershow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Greg-Fournier-4-19-2013.mp3

Quick Party Caricatures by Walt Griggs

While doing research for my next book, In the Shadow of the Water Tower, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, I ran into Walt Griggs, a caricature artist preparing to set up for a party he was working at The Corner Brewery.

I struck up a conversation with him about my reason for being in town and he was quite intrigued. He had never heard of John Norman Collins or the co-ed killings.

"Would you like me to draw you? I need to warm up." The party hadn't started quite yet.

"Sure," I said. "Do you want me to pose or anything?"

"No. Just sit there and tell me more about your book."

Five minutes later, he handed me the drawing you see above. I was really pleased with it, though I don't think I'm that gleeful in real life. Of course, that's why it's called a caricature.

What a great idea! Hiring someone to caricature quests at a party. The artist gets a commission for being there, and he earns tips and future referrals for other jobs at the same time.

As people began to arrive at the private party, I traded him a copy of Zug Island and thanked him. We both made a good deal I think.

Check out Walt's website at: www.artistrising.com/galleries/waltgriggs

"Gregory A. Fournier - Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel" WDET Interview

On October 27th, I recorded an interview for WDET - Detroit's PBS radio station, located on the campus of Wayne State University. It was the most fun I've had promoting my novel. It aired Monday, November 14th, on The Craig Fahle Show.

Craig has been running a series called "The Things That Divide Us," and I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest on his show to discuss Zug Island and the issue of race in the greater Detroit area.

Craig also asked me about my new project, In the Shadow of the Water Tower, dealing with the John Norman Collins' murder  cases - from July 9th, 1967 until July 23rd, 1969, in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Give a listen to the following link. If you like it - "Google 1" it and share it on Facebook. Comments are always welcome.

http://www.wdet.org/shows/craig-fahle-show/episode/gregory-fournier-zug-island-a-detroit-riot-novel/

Zug Island Author Interview - Gregory A. Fournier

Bruce Harding, managing director of the Los Angeles Book Festival, interviewed me last week about my debut novel which earned an Honorable Mention at their 2011-2012, March 3rd awards ceremony held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.
***************************************************************

Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel marks the debut of novelist Gregory A. Fournier, who puts his spin on heavy industry in the grimy backwaters of Detroit's steel and iron mills. The story set in 1967, follows white Jake Malone, kicked out of college, and Theo Semple, a black worker at Zug Island. Together they discover a friendship that challenges the conventions of the times, as the cauldron of racial animus bubbles over. We caught up with the author to ask a few questions about the story's creation and its origins in a blue collar world that is rapidly vanishing.

Bruce: How do you feel about Zug Island, the actual location? On the one hand, you must have an affection for the place, given that you've devoted enough focus on it to create a work of art. On the other hand, your book pulls no punches on its aesthetics.

Greg: I am still in awe of the enormity of Zug Island and the raw energy it takes to make iron and steel. The Medieval base elements of fire, earth, water, and air all play their part in the alchemy of steel making. It was the education of my life, and every time I'm in the Detroit area, I make a pilgrimage there. The steam cloud still billows like clockwork from the quenching station.

Bruce: Tell us about the people Zug Island is based on. Are they employed there out of desperation or desire or inevitability, as your character seemed to be?

Greg: People who worked on the labor crew weren't looking for careers; they needed jobs. These guys were working class people with no middle-class pretense. Life at Zug Island was raw and close to the ground, and it had a primal energy about it lacking in the suburbs of Detroit. Most of the characters in my novel are based on my memories of real people.

Bruce: Most novels are escapist in their settings. Yet you chose to look at some ugly truths. Tell us your reasoning.

Greg: Racism is an issue more often swept under the rug than openly discussed these days. But many of the same attitudes and prejudices that created an atmosphere for the race riots of the sixties abound today, more subtle perhaps, but still deeply rooted in white supremacy. Whether you hide it under a sheet or a teabag, racism steeps through.

Bruce: Was Zug Island a hard book to write emotionally?

Greg: No! But when I finally came up with the ending after four attempts, it did break me up some, and it still does each time I read it. Fortunately, many of my readers share that experience with me.

Bruce: Tell us your impressions of Detroit today.

Greg: I believe Detroit is moving in a positive direction after over fifty years. Much of the old city has been razed, but some of the historical architecture can still be seen. It's tough being a Detroiter. It's either boom-or-bust depending on the trends of the automobile business. The Big Three have been reporting strong earnings, but the area needs jobs and diversification. Overall, I'm optimistic that the city is on the rebound thanks to the leadership of Detroit's mayor, ex-Detroit Piston, Dave Bing.

Bruce: What advice is there for someone who is trapped in a Zug Island situation?

Greg: Save your money and look for another job. But this is the reality, there is a class of men who don't mind physical work or getting their hands dirty. The pay and the benefits are good, so the hardships pale in comparison. Zug Island is a world unto itself, and most people seem to tolerate life there pretty well.

Bruce: Would you write about race relations again?

Greg: Yes, and I may. Though this is a topic many people shy away from, it is a fundamental aspect of American society that needs to be explored in a contemporary context. Because of the issues complexity, the story lines are endless. Racism in America is an issue that should be on the trash heap of history, but first it needs to be documented. I think there is an attitude of white supremacy that lingers particularly in people who are socially unsophisticated. That's one of the things that bothered me about the era then and bothers me today. There was a very pronounced color line and there were areas you just don't go into as a black person and areas that white people were not welcome to go in. I was privileged to walk on both sides of that line for a short period of time.

Bruce: Where were you when the Detroit riots happened? Has your perspective on its causes changed?

Greg: If you haven't guessed, Jake is a representation of myself, and I was with my buddy from work, Otis, wandering around 12th St. a few hours before the riots began when a blind pig was raided by Detroit police. That part of my novel is directly based on personal experience, as is most of it. When I returned to college a year later, I was able to place the riots in a larger sociological context.

Bruce: Was writing the book harder than you believed it would be?

Greg: Compared to book promotion, writing seems easy. Once I retired from teaching, I cobbled together several short stories I had worked on for the previous five summers. Then I researched Zug Island, wrote an introduction, and the project took off. The ending was the hardest part for me, and I wrote four different ones until the final ending revealed itself to me in an epiphany. All-in-all, I enjoyed writing Zug Island, so it didn't seem like work to me.

Bruce: Although Zug Island is a difficult place to work, you have to wonder if there are not enough "Zug Islands" anymore....

Greg: Not everyone can become a celebrity or a professional athlete. There has to be something for people who are not particularly motivated to be white collar workers or service employees. There are people who prefer physical work - there is a certain Zen to it. But most of those jobs are permanently gone.The world is rapidly changing and so must the people in it.

Bruce: What's next for you?

Greg: My next project has the working title, The Water Tower. It is the true crime story of John Norman Collins, the alleged co-ed killer in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan, between the summers of 1967-1969. This case fell through the cracks nationally because of the Charles Manson case which broke open at the same time. I'm discovering some interesting things about the Collins case.

Available on Amazon.com and Kindle ebook.

Grandma's French-Canadian Meat Pie

Tortiere - Traditional Christmas Meat Pie

When I was a kid growing up in Detroit, my French-Canadian grandmother would make French meat pie that tasted like nothing I have ever had before or since. There was something about the spices and the texture that I have been craving for years.

These pies were a Christmas tradition in our family as grandma would make one for each family of her seven children, and of course, serve the rest up for the holiday repast. These pies freeze up well for later use and make great pot pies also.

I asked the women in my family if anyone had grandma's recipe, but nobody had a copy of it. Then it struck me, like so many women of her day, she didn't need a blueprint; she just knew how to make it. My mother tried to make it several times, but it never lived up to grandma's.

Looks great on the plate!

My grandmother met my grandfather while she was working as a young cook and baker for a bunch of lumberjacks who cut Canadian timber for box framing in the copper mines of Sudbury, Ontario.

Coincidentally, they both shared the same last name - Fournier. They met, married, and eventually moved to the states. My grandfather was the first of my family to work at Zug Island outside of Detroit.

After years of trying to get a family recipe, it finally struck me to just google it. I found over a dozen recipes with the same basic ingredients but with some variation of the spices used. It may take me some time to sample several of these recipes, but I'm coming closer to finding the one that tastes like grandma's.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/10-inch-french-meat-pie-recipe/index.html

The Detroit-Windsor International Trade Crossing

Artist's rendering of International Trade Crossing

Ten years of negotiations between Michigan and Ontario has resulted in an agreement to build a new bridge for commercial traffic between the United States and Canada. The bridge will create jobs, save cartage time, and relieve overcrowding on the Ambassador Bridge and in the Detroit/Windsor tunnel.

The new bridge will touchdown in Delray just north of Zug Island and only two miles south of the current international bridge which will continue to serve the general public of both countries. The bridge will conveniently link north/south I-75 in Michigan with east/west Highway 401 in Windsor.

The all but extinct neighborhood of Delray has needed a face lift for a long while, and the U.S. Customs plaza planned for there should help the abandoned area. I can't think of a better use for this depressed but once proud neighborhood. The view looking down onto Zug Island will become an industrial icon welcoming commerce into the country. The contrast between the modern bridge and the rust belt behemoth will be striking to see.

Details about the international agreement, the cost, financing, jobs, and economic impact are in the Crain's Detroit Business link below. This enterprise should give the local economies of Windsor and Detroit a long term boost.

Zug Island where the Rouge and the Detroit Rivers meet.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120615/FREE/120619934

Free Cornish Pasty Recipe - British Soul Food

One of the regional food items in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is the Cornish pasty. Miners from England who worked the copper mines here brought this traditional British meat and vegetable staple with them; once heated, they are a warming and welcome lunch during brutal winter days.

When I worked at Zug Island in Lower Michigan, the workers would heat pasties, as well as other home cooking, by placing them on the fire brick or next to steam pipes. The comfort of a hot lunch on a freezing day can not be overestimated, and pasties doubled as hand warmers too.

If you have never had an authentic pasty, don't worry, they are relatively easy to make and they store well in the freezer for later use.

Sometimes, they are served with gravy if you are eating them on a plate. But if you are eating them with your hands, like the working men did, ketchup is less messy. Traditionally, they were eaten plain.

The link below includes a free recipe from a Cornish woman, and attached to that is a video which shows the proper pasty preparation technique. Enjoy!

http://www.picturebritain.com/2012/03/cornish-pasties.html

100th Fornology Blog Post - Zug Island Web Radio Interview

One year ago this month, I began my blog - Fornology - and coincidentally this is my one-hundredth post. That means coming up with new content every three to four days - or an average of two posts per week. I've discovered that it is surprisingly enjoyable.

I began reluctantly at the prompting of my publicist, Paula Margulies, but now, posting is a natural part of my weekly routine. Sometimes, I have a definite idea of what to write about, but other times I'll see or hear something that I want to pass on to my readers. More often than not, I document what I'm doing with my writing projects: promoting Zug Island in print and on the radio, for instance, and on the writing of In the Shadow of the Water Tower, which deals with John Norman Collins, alleged coed killer from the late 1960s.

Blogging allows me the instant gratification of immediate publication and gives me an outlet to feed my writing habit. Each post is a creative micro burst which helps me build an audience for my longer works. I check my stats daily and am pleased with the steady rise in hits each month. My blog is approaching 7,000 hits.

That Russia is my second largest audience next to the United States is amazing to me. Then to see the Canadians catching up, with the Germans close behind, is like going to the races. These "audience" stats have meaning only to me, but it reminds me of the power of the world-wide web to reach out and communicate with people internationally. The Global Village has become a reality to me.

On Friday, May 4th,  I did a web radio interview on the Hollis Chapman Show about my debut novel, Zug Island.  My segment begins the show and is thirty minutes long. We had some minor technical difficulties early on but managed to work through them while on the air. It's live radio.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hollischapmanshow/2012/05/04/join-our-cool-voice-over-show

Gregory A. Fournier Zug Island Web Radio Interview

On Friday morning, I will be doing my first Skype interview on web radio, and I'm excited about it. There is a call-in contest where you can win one of two copies of Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel. The number to call is (646) 595-4326 - 1:00 PM Eastern time - 10:00 AM Pacific time. http://blogtalkradio.com/hollischapmanshow. 

This should be fun. Afterwards, the interview can be found on a continuous loop by accessing the Hollis Chapman Show archives or by running the link on my blog post next week. Hope you can join me.

Zug Island Wins Two Awards

When I found out I had won a Finalist Award in the USA Book News 2011 competition, I felt an immediate sense of accomplishment and validation. What for me was a quirky blue collar coming of age story about race relations in the Detroit suburbs was meaningful to others.

Since publication of Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, one year ago this May, I have received many emails testifying to the unflinching honesty of my portrayal of a time in American history many people would prefer be left unwritten.

In February, I was surprised to discover that I had received another award for Zug Island, an Honorable Mention from the 2012 Los Angeles Book Festival competition. These awards have motivated me to forge ahead with my next writing project, The Water Tower, about the John Norman Collins murders in Michigan of the late Sixties.

If you are looking for an entertaining and meaningful summer read, click on the Zug Island book cover in the right sidebar for more information. Available from Amazon in a quality paperback edition and Kindle format.

Hurray for Hollywood - The Los Angeles Book Festival and DIY Indie Film Awards

Last evening, my wife and I spent a wonderful night in West Hollywood at the Los Angeles Book Festival and DIY Independent Film Awards held at the historic Roosevelt Hotel, site of the first Academy Awards in 1928. Located on Hollywood Boulevard - across and down the street from the Kodak Center - we were there on a Saturday night, and I couldn't help but feel like a tourist.

My novel, Zug Island, won an Honorable Mention in General Fiction. After a very nice awards presentation and the acceptance speeches, we viewed a dozen clips from independent films which had won awards. See the films yourself at the link below.

It was a fun night, and I got to meet some interesting and ambitious people. Hal Holbrook won an award for a children's book he had written, but he couldn't be there to accept it because he was on tour.

Some of the authors had remarkable stories to tell. I particularly liked the story about blind people using power tools to build toys and their self-confidence. Seriously!

Afterwards, I took my sweetheart to Mel's Drive-In and made a night of it. I couldn't help but think of Marion Ross and the Fonz - their pictures were all over the place.

Happy Days!

DIYFILMFEST.COM

Free Radio Booking Service for Authors

My publisher for Zug Island - Wheatmark.com - recommended a free internet radio booking service named radioguestlist.com which has worked quite well for me . Once registered with them, they send out daily listings of radio talk shows looking for interesting guests. A writer can simply look down the listings and choose a show that specializes in his/her area of expertise. I've contacted four stations, three with positive results and another I'm waiting to hear from.

On Monday night, I was interviewed on a Harlem radio show - Beefstewradio.com - which I have run as a link below. I also have bookings on "Sayinitplain.com" in February and on the "Hollis Chapman Show" in May. My website and blog helped me seal these deals, so I recommend that you have an engaging electronic platform. It is your 24/7 billboard and calling card.

Independent authors can use this service to get media exposure and advertise their books and future writing projects. Local advertising isn't cheap - this media service gives you national and international exposure for free! Give it a try.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beefstewradio/2012/01/24/interview-with-author-gregory-a-fournier