Belt Books at Chicago’s Printers Row Lit Fest, the Cleveland Flea, and more
Publishing is a funny business. Here we are, with a warehouse full of books, ready to sell them to you. But doing [...]
RNC Watch
Well. It's finally here. Summer that is, and along with it ... convention season. In just six weeks, thousands upon howevermany [...]
How You Should Be Talking About Detroit
Every year on Mackinac Island, a resort spot in Lake Huron, off the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber — something akin to a downtown development agency — holds an annual gathering...
When The Number 9 Bus Was Like Home, And Downtown Was My Playground
I strained my neck to look down the row of occupied orange seats to see who was getting on the bus. A big crowd -- I should slide over close to the window, scrunching my book bag on my lap...
A New Cleveland Guidebook
Spend enough time reading “Best of Cleveland” listicles on the internet or browsing tourist brochures, and an image of Cleveland will likely form: a place with music, art, beer, ballgames, and skyscrapers filled with down- to-earth folks.
Making, And Leaving, Home In Flint
In 1997, an international incident was brewing. The World Wrestling Federation’s Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley had declared war on their Canadian rivals, the Hart Foundation.
Homecoming Of A Clevelander In Exile
I’ve finally returned home to Cleveland after a ten-year absence. While away, first at college and then for a drawn-out period of military service, I kept up on Cleveland happenings ...
Some Surprising Numbers From Cleveland
There were fewer people living in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood in 2013 than there were in 2000. That is one of many surprising facts in The Cleveland Foundation's The Pulse: A Look at Greater Cleveland by the Numbers.
Call for Submissions: Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook
Detroiters need to get to know their neighbors better. Wait -- maybe that should be, Detroiters should get to know their neighborhoods better.
The Blob Isn’t Toxic, but the Politics Are: The Story Behind Lake Erie’s Mass of Sediment
If you believe the sensational headlines, Cleveland has a “toxic blob,” a silent menace that sits just nine miles off the coast of Lake Erie, and is said to be migrating towards one of the city’s water supply pipes.
On Not Winning A House In Detroit
This month, a nonprofit called Write A House announced the third and fourth winners of its unusually generous Detroit revitalization scheme: whole houses in Detroit, for writers, forever, for free.
Happy Anyway: A Flint Anthology
I had just started writing about Flint when I found myself sitting next to Michael Moore, listening to him talk about what Flint had to offer the world.