Winding Down Terror In Ypsilanti

My wife and I at Detroit Bookfest 2017.

Since Terror In Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked was published last August, it has done well in the marketplace for an independently published book. This project took me, with the help of my researcher Ryan M. Place, five years to gather and research public documents, interview people connected with the case, and write the book; almost a year to edit the manuscript and publish it; and a solid year to promote the title and arrange author talks and book signings. It's been a busy year.

Over the last seven years, I have made nineteen round-trip flights from San Diego to Detroit to bring the tragic facts of these fifty-year-old serial murders to the forefront. Six of the seven murders never went to trial, so those facts were largely unknown to the public.

Writing TIY has met or surpassed all of my original goals. I set out to:

• recognize and pay respect to the memories of John Norman Collins's victims, their identities obfuscated by the use of pseudonyms in an earlier novelized account,
• clarify the facts and circumstances surrounding these murders obscured by time and misinformation on the Internet,
• reconstitute a faithful rendition of the Collins case which was purged from the files of the Washtenaw County Court sometime in 1976,
• and counter the blatant lies, alibis, and prevarications of Collins's attempts from prison to manipulate the press and the public. These falsehoods were given new life by social media.

The positive book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are appreciated more than I can say, but occasionally I receive an email or letter of a personal nature which helps validate the long and difficult task it took to cobble this tragic story together.

The latest letter I received was from Michaeline B. after my July tour in Michigan. She gave me permission to run an edited version of her remarks. Being able to move people with words may be the most satisfying thing I have accomplished with my writing. On this note, I end my 2017 promotions and move forward to my next project.

"It was a pleasure meeting you. I have finished Terror In Ypsilanti. My testament to your writing skills can best be told this way: I am an avid reader who almost never reads hard copy books. Ebooks suit my reading style and needs better. Yet, I read Terror in record time, adjusting my reading prerequisites accordingly without complaint. I even lugged this paperback around during the Traverse City Film Festival to better use my waiting-in-line time.

This is not a feel good book in any usual sense as the story is awful and sad. However, as one who is disturbed by the shortcomings--even the failures of our (criminal) justice system--you make a very satisfying case for justice decently served. I appreciate that.

The late sixties found me preoccupied with early motherhood duties and the big public events of the period (Vietnam, civil rights, the moon walk, etc.). Overwhelming! To a large extent, John Norman Collins and the related horror barely made it onto my radar screen. In some unspoken and unrecognized sense, I chastised myself over the years for my neglect. Thanks to you, I have done my duty to be informed on this matter--finally.

Devoting five years to this endeavor is a high price to pay, Greg. Please accept my humble thanks, admiration, and congratulations.... I look forward to reading Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel."

I thank Michaeline for sharing her story with me, and I appreciate every book review readers write on Amazon and Goodreads. It is these word-of-mouth endorsements that make the best kind of promotion and warm this author's heart.

Detroit Bookfest 2017 Surpasses Expectations

Organized as a "goodwill effort to help generate a deeper love and appreciation of books in the Greater Detroit community," the Bookclub of Detroit sponsored Bookfest 2017 was a rousing success for the city and festival organizers. Held in Shed 5 at the historic Eastern Market on Detroit's eastside, people from every corner of the city and the surrounding suburbs came out in force. The foot traffic was strong all day. Thousands of people attended.

Author Herb Boyd

In adition to rare and used books, contemporary works and their authors were present as exhibitors, most notably Herb Boyd, the author of recently published Black Detroit: A People's History of Self-Determination. I was happy to meet Herb and get his autograph on my copy. Michigan independent author Claudia Whitsitt and yours truly shared a table and did quite well at the end of the day. 

Making a sale.

Books were not the only attraction. Vendors included food trucks, craft beer, photography, vintage LP vinyl, movie memorabilia, local craft items, clothing, and more. The festival was a free, family friendly event and a good time was had by all.

While talking with Janet Jones, owner of Source Booksellers in Midtown Detroit, I commented on how Bookfest appeared to be a big hit. Her response was, "That it happened at all was good for the city." I agree with Janet and I will be back next year for Bookfest II.

Congratulations to Ryan M. Place and his team for organizing such a well-run and well-received event. In addition to the Bookclub of Detroit, other Bookfest sponsors were the City of Detroit, Eastern Market, Margrave Pictures, Cafe D'Mongo's, John K. King Used Books, White Raven Books, Black Lotus Brewing Co., and DJ Zig-Zag.

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Life In Michigan pictorial: http://www.lifeinmichigan.com/detroit-book-festival-2017/

For more information on Detroit's Eastern Market:
https://www.easternmarket.com/ 

Clinton LeForge Runs Amuck In Ypsilanti

Ypsilanti Daily Press--August 26, 1935.

To the reader: The documentation for this post was collected by the late George Ridenour and Lyle McDermott of the Ypsilanti Historical Society.

Clinton LeForge was known as a collector of Native American artifacts and fancied himself a self-taught expert in archeology. He spoke about his collection wearing an Indian headdress and a ceremonial robe and claimed Indian blood coursed through his veins.

"Whatever the Indian has done has been in defense of his wigwam and hunting grounds," LeForge said in an Ypsilanti Daily Press interview. "The Indian killed only in defense of his family. Trespassing on Indian land meant death in the native code." 

LeForge believed peace-loving Algonquins and the warlike Iroquois used the Ypsilanti area as a neutral burial ground. He gathered over 3,000 artifacts such as arrow heads, spear heads, tomahawks, and grinding stones from his property and searching along the Huron River, Ann Arbor Trail, and the Sauk Trail--all known Indian pathways.

Local farmers familiar with Clinton's interest in Indian artifacts would give him relics they found while plowing their fields. During the excavation of the Detroit Urban Railway in 1901, many Indian remains and artifacts were removed by souvenir hunters who damaged many of them. Clinton got his share, you can be sure of that.

Even a casual investigation of the LeFurge/LeForge family records reveals Clinton had nary a drop of Indian blood in his background. For that matter, he also claimed he was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, but there is no record of his enlistment. His 1930 Federal Census report indicates he had no military service. It is clear that Clinton LeForge was a raconteur and not above stretching the truth, nor creating it out of whole cloth when the purpose suited him.

When LeForge died in 1949, his estate included his Indian artifact collection valued at $2,488.50 and some Mayan pottery valued at $285. How this material was appraised is undocumented. What is known is his widow Grace LeForge did not share her husband's enthusiasm for Indian artifacts and sold the collection to a private collector for an unknown amount of money.

Ann Arbor News, March 15, 1935.

In 1931, tired of scratching a living off the land, LeForge tried his hand at selling insurance and practicing law. But in March of 1935, LeForge was named as a suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Richard Streicher, Jr, an Ypsilanti child found stabbed and frozen under the Frog Island Bridge in Depot Town.

Prior to the boy's killing, LeForge represented Mrs. Lucia Streicher in a divorce action which was dropped immediately upon Richard's death. The buzz around town was that Lucia and Clinton were having an affair. The day after the boy's body was found, LeForge went to the Streicher apartment at Lucia's request and removed Richard's toys from his bedroom, an act that raised eyebrows in the community and set idle tongues wagging.

Ypsilanti Daily Press, March 8, 1935.

Then, for some reason known only to her, Lucia Streicher turned on Clinton and implicated him as a possible suspect in her son's murder--a charge he vehemently denied. LeForge wanted to clear himself of malicious rumors circulating around town, leading him to take a battery of polygraph tests on two separate occasions hoping to clear his name--one polygraph given locally at the Ypsilanti State Police Post and the other in Lansing at Michigan State Police Headquarters. Lieutenant Van A. Loomis, state police polygraph examiner, wrote in his analysis of the data that he was convinced LeForge was innocent and knew nothing that would help solve the Streicher case.

Further damage to LeForge's reputation came eight months later when he was arrested on November 28, 1935, for the embezzlement of $3,685 from the estate of Darwin Z. Curtis. That was a huge sum of money during the Great Depression. LeForge pleaded guilty to the charge and made restitution to the Curtis Estate, paid $50 in court costs, and resigned from the Michigan Bar Association. The judge sentenced him to five years probation--a virtual slap on the hand. After LeForge's disbarment on September 8, 1936, nothing more is known publicly about his activities until his accidental death on August 30, 1946.

LeForge was operating a saw mill on his property at 7120 Ford Road. He was milling a 2" x 8" length of timber when the saw blade kicked the board back hitting him squarely in the chest crushing his ribcage. When Grace went outside to check on her husband, she found him dead on the ground. The Washtenaw County Coroner came to the farm and pronounced him dead at 6:00 pm. Clinton I. LeForge was sixty-four years old. He was buried in a family plot in Highland Cemetery on September 2, 1946, leaving a two-mile length of county road as his legacy.

The Richard Streicher, Jr. Murder: http://fornology.blogspot.com/2016/11/little-richard-streicher-ypsilantis.html

Clinton LeForge--Grandson Of An Ypsilanti Pioneer

To the Reader: The documentation for this post was collected by the late George Ridenour and Lyle McDermott of the Ypsilanti Historical Society.

One of the most colorful and controversial residents of Ypsilanti was Clinton Isaac LeFurge. He was born in Superior Township on June, 1885, to Insley B. LeFurge and Mary Ette Gale. In his mid-thirties, Clinton changed the spelling of his last name to LeForge. While looking through an heirloom family Bible, he found the names of twenty-two Leforge (sic) ancestors recorded on the flyleaf dating back to January 12, 1723.

Almost 200 hundred years later, Clinton chose to adopt that spelling and capitalize the letter F. LeForge is how his name appears in most public documents. The David LeForge family Bible is in the collection of the Ypsilanti Historical Society, contributed by Mrs. Dwight A. (Cora) Peck, Clinton LeForge's sister.

Young Clinton grew up a farm boy on his parent's 160 acre farm which ran along what was locally known as Paper Mill Road leading to the Huron River. He attended Bennett--a one-room schoolhouse on Geddes Road about a mile from his house. He showed promise as a student, so his parents sent him to Ypsilanti High School--a two mile walk.

The LeFurges: Insley/Mary and Clinton/Cora--1903.

It was common at the turn of the twentieth century for farm kids to drop out of school in the eighth grade to work the family farm. Many young women received little formal education beyond the domestic chores they learned at home. Graduating from high school was a significant achievement, but Clinton was not satisfied with that. He went on to earn a law degree in 1908 at Detroit College of Law, but it would be twenty-three years before he would practice law.

The following year, Clinton married Edith Grace Crippen and wasted no time starting a family. Soon they had two daughters and two sons. Earning a living to support his growing family through farming prevented Clinton from pursing his legal career. To compound matters, his father Insley died May 5, 1915, leaving him his mother's only means of support.

On November 12, 1920, Mary Ette transferred ownership of the family farm--160 acres of prime farmland--to her son Clinton in exchange for her "full use and possession of" the farmhouse until her death. For Clinton's part, he agreed to "keep up repairs and pay taxes during that time" as well as work the farm. The transfer was not recorded in the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds until January 30, 1924.

Sometime during the 1930s, Detroit Edison was stringing electrical lines in Superior Township and officially renamed Paper Mill Road, changing it to LeForge Road. In those days, it was customary to name county roads after the name of the predominate land owner. The same can be said for Gale, Vreeland, Geddes, Wiard, and Whittaker roads, among many others throughout Washtenaw County.

Clinton LeForge was a well-known figure in Ypsilanti as a self-taught Native American expert and collector of local Indian artifacts. For five years, he maintained a law office on South Huron Street before things started going wrong for him. More on that in my next post: "Clinton LeForge Runs Amuck In Ypsilanti."

How Ypsi Got Its Name: http://fornology.blogspot.com/2015/08/ypsilanti-michigan-history-whats-in-name.html

How I Sold 2,000 Terror In Ypsilanti Books in Six Months

My first shipment of direct-marketed books

On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, my publisher Sam Henrie of Wheatmark Publishing interviewed me for their Authors Academy webinar entitled How I Sold 2,000 Books in Less Than a Year. I recently learned that most self-published books sell fewer than 50 copies and 200 is considered a success. Sam wanted me to discuss my marketing secrets. My number one piece of advice for beginning authors, "When the muse comes looking for you, she better find you writing."

In this sixty minute interview, I discuss how my marketing plan evolved from the publication of my first book Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel (2011) to the release of my current book Terror In Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked (2016). 

My first book talk with Zug Island first edition.

If you are not as sick of me as I am of myself, give a listen. Afterward, I think you will agree that getting New York professional voice artist Chris Ciulla to narrate the audiobook was the correct choice.

This recorded-live webinar interview was conducted over the phone. Please excuse the slight lag time between questions and answers.

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How I Sold 2,000 Books webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o77sREwmPXY

mp3 link: 20170614HowISold2000unedited.mp3 

mp4 link: 20170614HowISold2000unedited.mp4

Terror In Ypsilanti audiobook (5 minute sample listen): https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Ypsilanti-Norman-Collins-Unmasked/dp/B06XS9HJD2

Terror In Ypsilanti Wins Book Awards

Literary Classics Press Release, Rapid City, South Dakota:

"The 2017 Literary Classics Book Awards and Top Honors Book Awards Finalists have been announced. Selected from submissions by entrants around the globe, these distinguished honorees are recognized for their contributions to the craft of writing, illustrating, and publishing exceptional literature. In this highly competitive industry these books represent the foremost in literature in their respective categories."

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This month, I learned my book Terror In Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked won a 2017 Literary Classics Silver Book Award in their true crime category. Last month, I earned a similar honor from the 2017 International Book Awards as a finalist in their true crime category. I am hoping to hear from a third writing competition to made it a clean sweep. 

Winning, placing, or showing in one of these writing contests gives authors bragging rights and the documentation to label their work award-winning. Winners receive a certificate suitable for framing, a roll of award emblems to festoon their book covers, and a digital emblem file for internet use.

The hosting organization announces winners with a press release and provides promotional opportunities through their business website and social media outlets. Often, there is a formal award ceremony offering press, photo, and networking opportunities. This year's Literary Classics Book Awards ceremony takes place over Labor Day weekend in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

As I wind down my Terror In Ypsilanti book tour this summer, I plan to shift my attention towards the film industry. So far, two media companies have shown an interest. One company pitched the idea to A&E, but the network is taking their programming in a different direction. Not to worry! There is still plenty of time to shop the project to other production companies, so I am not discouraged.

Terror In Ypsilanti has been out less than a year and garnered more attention and success than I expected. All formats--a quality paperback, digital ebook, and audiobook--are doing well. My publisher Sam Henrie of Wheatmark, Inc. tells me that Terror In Ypsilanti is their best selling title. For more information, click-on the book cover image in the right-hand sidebar.

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Literary Classics Seal of Approval Book Review: For Immediate Release Literary Classics pr@clcawards.org Literary Classics is pleased to announce that the book Terror in Ypsilanti, by Gregory Fournier, has been selected to receive the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. 

The CLC Silver Seal of Approval is a designation reserved for those books which uphold the rigorous criteria set forth by the Literary Classics review committee, a team comprised of individuals with backgrounds in publishing, editing, writing, illustration and graphic design. There’s nothing pretty about murder, and Gregory Fournier’s Terror in Ypsilanti is a testament to that fact. A compilation of first-hand reports of the moments leading up to and following the gruesome deaths of Michigan co-eds, this book follows John Collins, the convicted mass murderer of Michigan, and explains the evidence leading to his arrest and subsequent conviction. 

Extensive research has culminated in this ultimate reference guide for information on John Collins and the Ypsilanti murders. Told in narrative, each incident is detailed, including descriptions of the victims, crime scenes, witnesses, etc. Each of the cases were quite complex, but Fournier presents the facts concisely and objectively. Riddled with graphic detail, this book is not for the faint of heart. Regardless, for anyone wanting specific information on the Ypsilanti murders, or as a general case study, this book is an excellent resource. To this day, John Collins maintains his innocence. Multiple interviews and witness reports are presented showing both sides of the case. After reading the book, the reader is free to draw their own conclusion.

Amazon Author Site: http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-A.-Fournier/e/B00BDNEG1C

Final 2017 Terror In Ypsilanti Michigan Book Tour Schedule

2017 True Crime Category

Terror In Ypsilanti was released August 1, 2016, almost a year ago. Much has happened since. In addition to a quality paperback edition, a Kindle and all ebook formats are now available from Amazon <http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-A.-Fournier/e/B00BDNEG1C> at a reduced price. On March 31st, an audiobook was released by Tantor Media which opens up new markets for my book--also available on Amazon. And in May, the 2017 International Book Awards chose Terror In Ypsilanti as a Finalist in their True Crime category. The first half of 2017 has been kind to me.

Everywhere I speak, people come forward with stories about knowing one of John Norman Collins victims or of riding on the back of his motorcycle and living to tell the tale. I have had a couple of encounters with him as well. It is remarkable how many people are now willing to share their stories of memories long unspoken. Many local law enforcement members who worked on the Collins' case have come up after my talks and validated my work--foremost among them is former Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey.

Jackson librarian Erin Kurtz and I.

My Michigan book tour this May was successful with talks in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and four in Jackson. The Washtenaw Avenue B&N in Ann Arbor surprised me when they agreed to carry my book as a perennial local title. Copies are also available while supplies last at Nicola's Books on Jackson Avenue on Ann Arbor's west side, Brewed Awakenings just east of Saline on Michigan Avenue, and the Ypsilanti Historical Society in their basement archives on Huron Street. Autographed copies are always available on my author website--gregoryafournier.com.


My promotional window is closing as I gear up for my final three Terror In Ypsilanti book talks. If you want to learn more about the Washtenaw County murders or have me answer your questions in person, attend one of my last Michigan venues.

• Wednesday, July 12th at 7:00 pm, Nicola's Books--Ann Arbor's Premier Independent Book Store. 2513 Jackson Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
• Saturday, July 15th at 1:00 pm, Adrian District Library. 143 E. Maumee Street, Adrian, MI 49221
• Sunday, July 16th from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm, for the First Annual Book Club of Detroit Bookfest at the famous Eastern Market--Shed 5. 2934 Russell Street, Detroit, MI 48207 

Bringing this dastardly tale to light has been one of the most difficult and meaningful experiences of my life. I am proud to have paid a down payment on this debt to history.