"Interview of a Detroiter" Blog Entry-2

I live in Pine Bluff, Arkansas until I was 16 then my family moved to Pontiac, Mi. in the mid 80’s. I hadn’t really ever heard anything about Detroit at that time. I remember my first trip to Detroit; we drove down Woodward to go to the White Castle on 8mile. I ordered one hamburger and my friend replied that’s all you want, I didn’t know at the time how small the burgers were.  On my second trip to Detroit we went to a restaurant in Greek Town, it was suggested that I order a favorite dish from the menu and when the waiter deliver the entrée, he set the entrée on fire and yelled OPA! I feel in love with Detroit at that moment.

I interviewed Paul a native East-Side Detroit boy as he likes to call himself. Paul graduated from Persian High School in 1949. He stated the interview by saying “you guys where the rich one’s in our neighborhood” you guys meaning African American by the way I’m a 44yr young African American. Paul is a white male, retire from an architect firm which he part owned that employs over 200 employees, it now ran by his business partner. Paul spends winters in Florida and come back to Michigan in the spring. When Paul speaks about the relationship he had with other African Americans, such as Gloria Owens daughter of Jesse Owens who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, you hear nothing but joy and fun memories. Paul told me about a time when Jesse Owens took him and Gloria for a ride in his new Cadillac. Paul was also class mates with Lenny Green with went on to play profession Baseball for Twins, Senators, Red-Sox, Orioles and our own Detroit Tiger until he retire in 1968. I’ve had many breakfast meals with Paul, here’s his routine. We spilt a special which usually runs around $7.00 then Paul tips the waitress $10.00. On one occasion I asked Paul, “why do you tip so much” he replied “my mother was a waitress when I was growing up and we lived on the tips”. You couldn’t really get Paul to say a negative word about Detroit in the interview, he only had fun memories.