Back in the day, Linda Godfrey would regularly share stories with me from her classic book Weird Michigan and her other works. Linda has regrettably passed on and her Weird Michigan website is lost, but here’s a seasonally appropriate tale of shipwrecks & lost love from my archives…
In the mid-1800s, the Lake Huron port and lumber town of Forester was a far cry from the sleepy, near ghost town it is today. The remains of huge pilings just off the scanty beach now stand as crumbling reminders of the great pier that once bustled with Great Lakes ships and sailors.
One of those sailors unwittingly started the legend that would be Forester’s main claim to fame after the lumber ran out and the ships stopped coming.On shore leave one day, the unnamed young man took up with a local girl named Minnie Quay, whose folks, James and Mary Ann Quay, owned the town tavern.
The Quays forbid Minnie to see her beloved, but the order proved tragically unnecessary after his ship became one of many that succumbed to Great Lakes gales. Minnie made one more visit to the forbidden pier after learning that news, and on April 26, 1876, at the age of 16, she threw herself into the water in hope of joining him in the afterlife. She lies in a waterfront cemetery now, next to the bodies of her father, mother and brother.
Legend says that she still wanders the beaches, moaning for her lost sailor, and that some have seen her standing waist deep in the water, beckoning others to join her. The former Quay home and bar still stands, giving Minnie’s ghost even more reason to linger.
Chris shared a perfect photo for a roundup of recent Detroit news saying: “Both projects broke ground in 2020. The Hudson’s site is now Detroit’s second tallest building, while the Gordie Howe Bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. Also lit up is the Ambassador Bridge which recently reached its 100 year anniversary.” (the Ambassador is in the foreground with the string of lights).
While 98% of the $5.7 billion project is complete, bridge officials say the remaining work is forcing the delay from the previously announced fall 2025 opening … The final phase focuses heavily on testing the bridge’s technological systems.
…A report from S&P Global Ratings indicated that contractors had missed previous deadlines for transferring border facilities to authorities, though bridge officials would not specifically comment on this.
Detroit has definitely been on the come up in recent years, but it is still notable that 13 years after a poll showed two-thirds of Detroiters felt the city was moving in the wrong direction, a new survey found a dramatic, 180-degree turnaround with 76% feeling the city is headed in the right direction with 11% disagreeing & 13% having no opinion. Among that 11% is Livonia resident & leader of the Detroit News editorial page Nolan Finley, who ruffled more than a few feathers when he suggested that Detroiters are deluded to express contentment.
Johnny Cash was born 93 years ago today, and though he wasn’t born in Michigan, he sang about us and the struggles of workers on the line. In honor of the Man in Black, here’s a photo that Bill shared photo back in 2023 writing “Formerly the Gibson Guitar factory. Rumor has it that Elvis Presley himself came to Kalamazoo to pick up his guitars straight from the factory. Johnny Cash, Steve Winwood, B.B. King, and others also visited to check on their orders.”
Here are couple more photos of the old plant along with Bill’s burning ring of fire (with apologies to Johnny Cash). Follow Bill on Flickr & Facebook for more!
I started Michigan in Pictures way back on December 30, 2025. In the 19 years since, I’ve shared 2840 posts – well, 2841 now – to 1.6 million people! Thank you all for being a part of it!!
I took this photo & the one below at the Manitou Music Festival at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore way back in 2005! You can see a lot more in my Music Makes Me Smile gallery on Flickr, and the dancing fellow in the bottom picture is Jacob Wheeler, editor & publisher of the fantastic Glen Arbor Sun!
The Detroit Free Press shares that the Stevie Wonder mural in downtown Detroit was finished in 2019 by London-based artist Richard Wilson who paid for the mural out of his own pocket!
Visible from Brush Street on the south-facing wall of the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Wilson’s portrait spans roughly 8,000 square feet and is large enough to be seen by an airplane passing overhead. “For me, he’s the greatest living singer, songwriter and musician,” said the 45-year-old Wilson. “In 300 years, I’m sure he’ll be looked (at) as a Beethoven, Mozart, Bach — that kind of epic influence on humanity.
“Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing. Aretha has everything – the power, the technique. She is honest with everything she says.” -Mary J. Blige
I almost never feature photos from outside Michigan here, and I’ve never gone this far for one but please hang with me here!! Jeanne took this photo of a mural by Citra Arm Crew on rue Ordener in Paris just two weeks after the August 16, 2018 passing of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. It’s such an incredible testament to the powerful legacy of one of Michigan and the entire nation’s most famous ambassadors.
Scott shared this photo on Monday writing “Bet you can’t guess where we were visiting. At one point these guys were outselling The Beatles! One of the true Michigan iconic bands. Glad to see that this homage to them is still there.”
If you guessed “Flint” you are correct! The band Grand Funk Railroad was one of the biggest bands to come out of Michigan in the seventies, scoring Grand Funk six platinum and seven gold-certified albums between their 1969 debut and first breakup in 1976. The power trio of Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) & Mel Schacher (bass) originally came together in 1969 as “Grand Trunk Railroad”. The Grand Trunk Western Railroad objected, and the band (fortunately) had to change the name to Grand Funk Railroad.
Two of the three original members – Brewer & Schacher – are currently on tour as Grand Funk Railroad while lead singer & primary songwriter Farner tours as Mark Farner’s American Band.
Hiawatha & Minnehaha Sculptures by Edmonia Lewis from the Detroit Institute of Arts
WARNING: Novella incoming ;)
The Northern Express shares that the Interlochen Center for the Arts is getting ready for the May 3-4 world premier of Edmonia, the story of 19th-century Black and Ojibwe sculptor Edmonia Lewis who carved out an artistic identity against all odds (click for tickets!). Here are a few highlights but read the whole because WOW this is a huge deal for Interlochen and the whole state of Michigan:
The two-act opera was originally commissioned in 2000 by prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison and composed by acclaimed musician and education Dr. Bill Banfield. The tale follows Lewis’ life, travel, and career at Oberlin College, Boston, Florence, Italy, Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia at a time when travel, a career, and life itself was difficult for many women.
The driving force behind the Edmonia opera is Dr. Bill Banfield, a native Detroiter, whose wide-ranging resume includes musician, composer, guitarist, professor, educator, author, and record company owner.
…Banfield has twice served as a Pulitzer Prize judge in American Music (2010 and 2016). He’s an award-winning composer whose symphonies, operas, and chamber works have been performed and recorded by major symphonies across the nation. Dr. Cornel West has called him “one of the last grand Renaissance men in our time, a towering artist, exemplary educator, rigorous scholar, courageous freedom fighter.”
With all those impressive credentials, what was it like working with the young people at the academy? “Young people jump into the music and they make the music jump,” he says with a smile. “They bring the soul, the imagination, and energy.”
…Patrice Rushen, Broadway actor Sydney James Harcourt of Hamilton fame, and emerging opera performer Amber Merritt star alongside Arts Academy students in the production.
Auditions began in December under co-directors Laura Osgood Brown and Justin Lee Miller. In a nutshell, Brown deems the cast “an explosion of talent. There are 65 in the cast, the largest cast ever on campus,” says Brown. “The first few days were overwhelming. And we were practicing from 4:00 to 6:30 [pm], four or five days a week, in three different locations.”
…One of the highlights of Edmonia is a high-tech rotating stage that carries a $70,000 price tag.
“We received a generous donation which allowed us to purchase a motor-controlled scenery system,” explains Wrobel. “This system moves scenery ‘magically’ on the stage. For the production of Edmonia, we are using the system in two ways. We will have a 20-foot diameter turntable that is in the middle of the stage. This allows us to move other pieces of scenery or performers magically during the show.”
…So why should a northern Michigan audience come to see Edmonia? Wrobel is quick to offer three reasons.
“First, the story is important,” he says. “Edmonia Lewis was an African American and Native American marble sculptor in the late 1800s. The story spans Lewis’ courageous life from her birth in upstate New York through her turbulent days at Oberlin College and formative studio days in Boston, to her astonishing move to Rome, Italy. In 1876, at the age of 32, Lewis captivated the world with her larger-than-life marble statue The Death of Cleopatra that now stands in the Smithsonian.
The photographer of this pair of marble busts is me (Andy McFarlane). I went looking at the Detroit Institute of Arts that is an actual city block from my apartment & F-R-E-E for all Wayne, Oakland & Macomb county residents. It wasn’t in the African American section as it says on the DIA website, but in the much more appropriate American Art before 1950 section. There I found a bonus – Hiawatha! Both sculptures are about a foot tall and STUNNING.
The credit for Minnehaha is: Mary Edmonia Lewis, Minnehaha, 1868, marble. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of the Centennial Planning Committee for Sharing Traditions and Romare Bearden Exhibitions with a major contribution from Founders Junior Council, 1986.33.
I have emailed the DIA asking them for information about Hiawatha. They may think it’s still at the MET because the MET does!! And while the website is out of date, the card indicates Hiawatha is on loan from the Detroit-based Manoogian Collection which must have loaned it the the MET.
Here’s a bonus pic of Hiawatha & Minnehaha by Edmonia Lewis on display at the DIA by yours truly.
Diana Ross, 1976 photo by Motown Records & Diana Ross today by Diana Ross
Today is the birthday of Detroit-born singer, actress, record producer, and all around legend Diana Ross. The Black PR Wire Power news release in honor of her birthday says:
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ross rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group, The Supremes, who during the 1960s became Motown’s most successful act, and are the best-charting female group in US history, as well as one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time. The group released a record-setting twelve number one hit singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Come See About Me”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, “You Can’t Hurry Love”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “Love Child”, and “Someday We’ll Be Together”.
Following her departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross released her eponymous debut solo album that same year, featuring the No. 1 Pop hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” She later released the album “Touch Me in the Morning” in 1973; its title track was her second solo No. 1 hit. She continued a successful solo career through the 1970s, which included hit albums like Mahogany and Diana Ross and their No. 1 hit singles, “Theme from Mahogany” and “Love Hangover”, respectively. Her 1980 album “Diana” produced another No. 1 single, “Upside Down”, as well as the international hit “I’m Coming Out.” Her final single with Motown during her initial run with the company achieved her sixth and final U.S. number one Pop hit, the duet “Endless Love” featuring Lionel Richie, whose solo career was launched with its success.
Ross has also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award–nominated performance in the film “Lady Sings the Blues” (1972); she recorded its soundtrack, which became a number one hit. She also starred in two other feature films, “Mahogany” (1975) and “The Wiz” (1978), later acting in the television films “Out of Darkness” (1994), for which she also was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and Double Platinum (1999).
She is the only female artist to have number one singles as a solo artist; as the other half of a duet (Lionel Richie); as a member of a trio; and as an ensemble member (We are the World-USA for Africa). In 1976, Ross was named the “Female Entertainer of the Century” by Billboard magazine. In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared her the most successful female music artist in history, due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts, with a career total of 70 hit singles with her work with the Supremes and as a solo artist. She had a top 10 UK hit in every one of the last five decades, and sang lead on a top 75 hit single at least once every year from 1964 to 1996 in the UK, a period of 33 consecutive years and a record for any performer.
In 1988, Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes, alongside Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. She was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
The abandoned Grande Ballroom is up for sale for a hefty $5,000,000, according to a listing on Jim Shaffer and Associates Realtors that went online this week. The old-school music hall was a hub for classic and psychedelic rock bands in the 1960s until it closed in 1972. Since then, it has sat looming like a fading memory of a bygone era.
Back in the days of sex, drugs, and, rock ‘n’ roll, the ballroom hosted acts like Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, and even John Coltrane and Sun Ra. MC5 became regulars on the stage and recorded its 1969 debut album Kick Out the Jams there, and in recent years a mural of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-nominated band’s guitarist Wayne Kramer was painted on the side of the building.
Michigan in Pictures 