Exclusive Interview: Dr. Carleton Gholz & Gabe Chess discuss the Red Bull Arts Detroit Library! (Grand Opening on May 7, 2019)

Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

We’re sitting here on the 5th floor of WSU’s TechTown, a 5-story business incubator and co-working space in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood.

Right now, it’s a busy hive of activity and we’re sequestered in a quiet corner to discuss the exciting grand opening of Red Bull Arts Detroit Library.

I’m sitting here with the two brilliant, forward-thinking minds of Dr. Carleton Gholz and Gabe Chess.

Carleton is the main consultant on design and strategy for the Library. He is also an historian, journalist and founder of Detroit Sound Conservancy.

Gabe is a native North Carolinian, culture hacker with a taste for electronica & soccer, former Chicagoan and one of the main functionaries at Red Bull Arts Detroit.

Until more donations start rolling in, the Library is currently mostly comprised of a hybrid of Carleton’s personal Detroit book collection and from Detroit Sound Conservancy music library, many of which were gifted from the Frederick Gale Ruffner, Jr. Collection warehouse liquidation. Carleton is loaning his 1,500-book collection to the RBA Library for one year.

What is Red Bull Arts Detroit?

Red Bull Arts Detroit (photo courtesy of Red Bull)

New York City and Detroit are the only two Red Bull Arts exhibition spaces in North America. There’s also one in Sao Paolo, Brazil called The Station. Red Bull’s global HQ is in Austria and their North American HQ is in Santa Monica, California.

Opened in 2011, Red Bull Arts Detroit (1551 Winder Street) is a 14,000-square foot 2-story warehouse located in the Eastern Market district.

Red Bull, yes the energy drink company, pays 9 artists from all over the world a $12,000 stipend to live and work at the warehouse for 3 month intervals (ie: January-April, April-July, August-November).

The stipend allows the artists to focus on making art full-time while in Detroit. Being an artist is not easy and the money and dedicated time for free-flowing creativity are a blessing to struggling artists.

The basement of the warehouse is the old Eckhardt & Becker Brewery and is basically a cool subterranean brick-walled cavern. The brewery was here 1891-1969.

They are creating the reference Library as a platform for public engagement, which will be open to both resident artists and the general public.

A Lively Conversation with Carleton & Gabe

Gabe Chess & Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Carleton

“So, to kick things off for the Library, I’ll be doing a Reading Room talk on a book that is personally meaningful to me. It’s the 50-year, 10,000-square foot view of how I understand arts funding and how its drastically changed.”

“The book I will be talking about is the 1968 Detroit architecture classic, ‘The Buildings of Detroit’ by Hawkins Ferry, which was published by Wayne State University Press. There was a 2002 updated edition with a foreword by John Gallagher but I’ll be using the original.”

“The book was my Grandfather’s copy and it even has the original Hudson’s receipt in it. He was a doctor, did his residency in Detroit in the 1940’s, lived on West Philadelphia Street and on Selden Street. My Dad was born in Detroit and worked as an architect.”

“The book I have is basically a family scrapbook, layered with article clippings, papers, notes, ephemera, etc., it’s my own little vertical file of supplemental material. It essentially comprises a parallel book of its own within the Hawkins Ferry Book.”

“The big question for me is, as a historian, how does one fully update this survey for a new age?”

“William Hawkins Ferry came from big money, the Ferry-Morse Seed Company, which was started by his grandfather, Dexter Ferry. Hawkins was born 1913 and died 1988. He was an architectural historian and DIA trustee who attended Yale and Harvard. He was a pre-WWII elite historic preservationist whose worldview did not include insights into the working class and the adaptive re-use of repurposed buildings in working class neighborhoods. He was a modernist who lived in a $2 million-dollar house on Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe, a wealthy suburb of Detroit.”

“In a world of scarce resources, funding for the arts is tough to come by. How would you know if Ferry’s book as a resource is definitive? I’m also very concerned about archives being accessible for non-Ivy League working class humans. To do this, archives would most likely need state funding of some sort.”

Reading Room: Dr. Carleton Gholz on “The Buildings of Detroit: A History by W. Hawkins Ferry”

https://www.facebook.com/events/435178813921974/

Dr. Carleton Gholz’s family copy of The Buildings of Detroit (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Gabe

“I grew up in a home with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and a huge reference library. My dad’s a poet and a professor and as such, my entire inheritance will be books. What I’ve found with books is that, if they’re there, you will use them.”

“We have all these artists and writers who need access to an archive of resources while in Detroit, so we’re trying to facilitate engagement in a meaningful way. Our collection will serve that purpose. We can help expose the public to our library, open it up to new perspectives and we hope to invite lots of people to engage in new and different types of thinking.”

“The idea for the Red Bull Library came out of visiting artists who were missing their books and were therefore constantly going to the Detroit Public Library and we thought it was a great idea to have a library on-site for them. The library feels relevant, it’s a platform which willow allow us to help give voice to our community partners. What was once a blank space has been upgraded to provide better tools for artists. The library is a community tool.”

Carleton

“It raises an interesting question of what is the relationship of an artist to an archive? A background foundational knowledge of art and a variety of other things should be easily accessible and findable, which is why archives exist.”

“Personally, I’d like to see better arts funding being provided to help the community, like what Red Bull is doing with this Library, I think it’s tremendous. I find it interesting that a private company like Red Bull, feels its budget is better spent creating archives in an arts building, rather than doing something else with it.”

Gabe Chess & Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Gabe

“Well, Carleton, oddly what’s happened with Red Bull, points to what states should be doing, which is helping to provide funding for community progress. People typically only look at attendance numbers as a measure of success. High attendance figures are not always necessarily a good measure of delivery on a promise. If you build it, they will come.”

“Our Library is not exhaustive. It’s intended to be a series of meaningful books. There’s sometimes a myth of neutrality of institutions. Museums are often started by a handful of wealthy donors. This is a far more community-based effort and we’re very excited.”

Carleton

“Agreed.”

Library Grand Opening event:

Reading Room: Dr. Carleton Gholz on “The Buildings of Detroit: A History by W. Hawkins Ferry”

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Red Bull Arts Detroit Library

1551 Winder Street

Detroit, Michigan

Free entry, free street parking

Facebook Event Page

https://www.facebook.com/events/435178813921974/

Red Bull logo (courtesy of Red Bull)

Red Bull Arts Detroit Homepage

http://redbullarts.com/detroit/

RBA Detroit Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/redbullartsdetroit/

Dr. Carleton Gholz Homepage

http://csgholz.org/

Detroit Sound Conservancy

http://detroitsoundconservancy.org/

Buy the Hawkins Ferry book from WSU Press

https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/buildings-detroit

Photos of the Hawkins Ferry House

https://www.wallpaper.com/art/william-kessler-michigan-modernist-house-hosts-group-art-show

Gabe Chess (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Gabe Chess & Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

Dr. Carleton Gholz (photo by: Ryan M. Place)

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books! (Sunday, July 21st, 2019) we will be in SHED 3

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest)!

*Special Thank You to Lauren Rautiola, our Detroit Bookfest Project Manager, for designing our flyers!*

The 3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest) is a glorious day of BOOKS, vinyl records, comics, creative arts, food, beer, funk music and more!

Please join us at Eastern Market Shed 3 in Detroit on Sunday, July 21st, 2019.

The event is FREE for attendees! There will be an estimated 10,000+ attendees.

Event hours are 10am-4pm.

All the event details are here:

https://detroitbookfest.com/event-details-facts/

What is Shed 3 @ Eastern Market?

Detroit Bookfest will be located inside Shed 3. To get near there, use the address 2934 Russell Street, Detroit, MI.

Shed 3 is located on Russell Street, between Division St & Adelaide St.

Built in 1922, Shed 3 is 29,000-square feet. The layout features 4 wings in a cross-shape. It is the “main” and largest shed at Eastern Market.

Shed 3 features bathrooms, large garage door-walls and free wi-fi.

Click on this link for a 3-D tour of Shed 3 (courtesy of Eastern Market):

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=jiHWwWLKs4B

Shed 3

If you are interested in applying to be a Vendor, read this:

https://detroitbookfest.com/vendor-application/

Please fill out the Vendor Application form and you will be entered into the VNQ (Vendor Notification Queue).

The VNQ is a database of potential vendors. If you are selected to be a vendor, you will be notified via email.

Please note that we have received thousands of emails from people wanting to be vendors at Detroit Bookfest.

If you have any questions, please email:

[email protected]

Thank you, we love you all!

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books Facebook event page

https://www.facebook.com/events/2128622190753187/

Detroit Bookfest

According to our website statistics:

www.DetroitBookFest.com averages around 50,000 unique views per year.

Our top 10 countries are:

USA

Canada

France

Brazil

Germany

India

Australia

Italy

Norway

Our top 10 states are:

Michigan

Ohio

Illinois

New York

California

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Florida

Texas

Colorado

Our top 10 cities in Michigan are:

Detroit

Ann Arbor

Grand Rapids

Royal Oak

Dearborn

Plymouth

Clinton Township

Troy

Farmington Hills

Livonia

Detroit Bookfest!

Exclusive Interview:The Pie-Tastically Fantastic World of Self-Made Businesswoman, creator & author of Detroit’s Sister Pie Powerhouse, LISA LUDWINSKI!

Sister Pie cookbook cover (photo courtesy of EE Berger)

I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘I don’t like pie’. I know some crazy people who aren’t huge fans of cake. But pie is one of those rare, universally loved foods.

Most people have a favorite pie and if you visit Sister Pie in Detroit, you’ll discover new flavors of pie, cookies and pastries you never knew existed.

You can also discover how creative, finely tuned, and in-sync local communities can become when they’re assembled and provided an outlet, such as the daily magic of Sister Pie.

This story is beyond pies. It delves into the heart of Detroitness, the importance of farms, the power of ideas and the oft unacknowledged tapestry of communities which make the USA a great chunk of the Global Village.

How did Sister Pie start?

Well, Lisa Ludwinski had an idea. She grew that idea with raw drive, talent, a flair for self-marketing and perseverance. The idea eventually sprouted into a business. The business attracted tens of thousands of customers whom became devoted fans and now the business is thriving and has become an undeniable force in the community. This led to Lisa writing one of the coolest cookbooks of all time and achieving international worldwide recognition in the process.

The business and the cookbook are called Sister Pie. The creator & author is Lisa Ludwinski and this is her story.

A TEMPLE OF PIE AND BAKED GOODS

Sister Pie (photo courtesy of Michelle & Chris Gerard)

Sister Pie is located on Kercheval Ave @ Parker St in Detroit’s West Village neighborhood, about three miles east of Downtown Detroit.

There is gloriously free street parking and the 950-square foot bakery is housed inside a circa 1925 corner wedge of building shaped like an inverted isosceles trapezoid. It gives Sister Pie a sort of ‘temple of pie and baked goods’ feeling.

Inside are beautifully presented pies with lattice weaves and decorative steam vents and an olfactory bouquet of brain-meltingly good smells.

They offer a range of edible works of art, including pies, cookies, pastries, breakfast and lunch. All those goodies can be enjoyed on-site at the single large family-style farmhouse table in the front of the shop, which is where Lisa and I are sitting right now.

The ambiance is cozy, quirky and inspiring. They also have double-stacked convection ovens here. These bad girls can fit 25 pies at a time, so you can bake up to 50 pies simultaneously!

I’m here visiting with Lisa because Sister Pie is all-around great and as a result, she has become one of Detroit’s de facto ambassadors. Plus, their cookie game is on point too, these are some good cookies!

Her cookbook, ‘Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit’, clocks in at 256 pages and features over 75 recipes.

It was published in October 2018 by Lorena Jones Books, an imprint of Ten Speed Press, which is a division of Penguin Random House.

The book is an incredibly fun and interactive read, featuring recipes, ingredients, tips, easy to follow instructions, and Lisa’s own unique brand of quirky humor.

What is readily apparent from reading the book is that the Sister Pie powerhouse are fearless experimenters. They are unafraid to experiment with combinations of from-scratch ingredients and modify or replace the recipes as needed.

Lisa herself is a fun blend of silly and business, hilarious and serious, extrovert and introvert, intermingled together like her nontraditional pie ingredients.

“I have a pit bull named Ruby Thursday. She got her name because I liked the name Ruby and I met her on a Thursday. Ruby is my girl!”

“One of my biggest inspirations over the years have been my parents. They’ve given me probably too much support (laughs) I’m incredibly fortunate. Knowing they had my back allowed me to focus 100% of my time on business development and turn Sister Pie into a successful business.”

“They were so excited when I moved back home from Brooklyn. They gave me a place to stay, helped fund my existence, provided groceries, roof over my head. And growing up, they took their parental duty to the max and made it their mission give my sister Sarah and I good opportunities.”

“My Father Kurt runs the All America Plywood Company at John R & 7 Mile in Detroit. My grandfather started the business in 1967 and my dad took over in the late 1970’s. Growing up, it was a cool experience for me to visit him at the office, see him as a business owner and boss. He’s able to transform stress into creativity, which is very inspirational for me. I always know I can go to him for advice.”

“My mom is amazing. She carted me from dance lessons to play rehearsals and everywhere in between as a kid. We grew up on her cooking, and my Aunt Mimi’s pumpkin pie.”

BIOGRAPHY: LISA LOUISE LUDWINSKI

Lisa & Sarah (photo courtesy of Lisa Ludwinski)

Born 1984, Lisa Louise Ludwinski, grew up in Milford, Michigan with her sister Sarah. She attended Mercy High School and graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts from Kalamazoo College.

Upon graduation, she moved to Brooklyn, NYC and lived there from 2006-2012. When not filming her hilarious Funny Side Up cooking show and landing acting gigs, she worked as a pastry cook at Momofuku Milk Bar and very briefly at Four and Twenty Blackbirds.

Lisa decided to move back home and grow her new idea for a business. She started Sister Pie in November 2012 at her parent’s house. The orders rolled in fast and in 2013 she enrolled in D:hive Build (now Build Institute) business class, joined FoodLab Detroit and by 2014 transitioned to the Hannan House commercial kitchen space in Midtown Detroit.

Lisa added her first employee, Toledo native Anji Barto and things were cooking as they moved to Detroit’s West Village, snapped up several wholesale accounts and won $50,000 from the Hatch Detroit small business contest.

To raise money for a brick-and-mortar shop, Lisa launched an Indiegogo campaign in February 2015. The goal was to raise $25,000. Lisa did a 24 hours dance marathon where she personally danced for 24 hours straight inside Paramita Sound record store. She started 9pm Friday and stopped 9pm Saturday night! The fundraiser was a huge success and they exceeded their goal by $1,000.

Finally, after a few years of grinding hard every single day, Lisa officially opened Sister Pie on April 24th, 2015.

MORE ABOUT LISA

Lisa & Ruby Thursday (photo courtesy of Lisa Ludwinski)

“I’m of Polish and German descent, with some English and Russian thrown in there.”

“I was part of a mime troop in high school (laughs)…it was a weird thing, but fun. I did it for two years and learned skits, choreography, and the challenge of entertaining while being constrained. Without the ability to talk, you learn to be expressive in other ways.”

“Going to Mercy High School was a big experience in my life. I was introduced to a culturally and racially diverse student body, which is something I hadn’t really experienced in Milford. There was an emphasis on exploring and opening up your mind to other people and everyone’s different experiences, which created a strong foundation for my ongoing interest in social justice and human rights.”

“I like dogs, I like to doodle-draw, and going to see interesting films. The Detroit Film Theatre inside the DIA is one of my favorite places in the city. My favorite movie is Hitchcock’s 1954 classic, ‘Rear Window’. I also like being outside and exploring different outdoor challenges and trying new things.

“As the business has grown, I’ve become more introverted. For the past couple decades, I’ve spent a lot of time as a performance-crazed extrovert. I have a wacky sense of humor. In general though, I try to be an empathetic person, try to give with kindness, and definitely have a tendency to over-analyze.”

“One of my favorite authors is Zadie Smith. Her book ‘On Beauty’ is my favorite of hers. Also really enjoy essays by Rebecca Solnit. I listen to a wide variety of music and have always been very into classic soul. My go-to music in general is 80’s New Wave (New Order, Talking Heads, etc).”

SISTER PIE: DRAMATIC CRIMPS & LATTICE WEAVES

Sister Pie’s Apple Sage Gouda Pie (photo courtesy of EE Berger)

The reason Sister Pie sells out early every day is because each person is buying an average of 5 to 10 items. Yes, it’s that good. I ordered $60.00 worth of pie and pastries while here and the only regret I have is that I didn’t bring another $40.00 with me to buy more.

“Sister Pie is run by 15 women, including myself. Everyone here has a lot of freedom, ownership, responsibilities and the business is now at a place where it can run without me needing to be here constantly.”

“The kitchen here is running 5am-6pm daily. We close for the holidays and take a two week break at the beginning of the year. We bake pies once daily, around 11 am or Noon. They sit overnight and are served the next day because pies need to rest for at least 4 hours.”

“My first employee, Anji Barto has been with us since May 2014. At the time she was doing some graphic design work for Germack. In April 2015, she became a full-timer and she’s been very involved in the growth of Sister Pie. We’ve been through a lot together.”

“Sister Pie is known for our nontraditional flavor combinations. We make these seasonally and there’s definitely something enticing about the unusual flavors. Again, I like a challenge and it’s challenging to pick a single base ingredient and see how you can layer it with other ingredients to make something different and unique.”

“We make our pie dough, the All-Butter Pie Dough, by hand every day communally. We use Plugra butter (high fat French butter) and unbleached all-purpose flour.”

“80% of Sister Pie pies begin with a blind-baked crust (ie: baked without filling). Pie crust is not hard to make, there’s just a lot of steps. You have to be thoughtful and work fast, especially so the butter doesn’t become completely homogeneous with the other ingredients. You want it to burst open when it hits the hot oven. It’s also possible to over-work the pie dough. It’s a hard balance because it takes a lot of muscle to sculpt the dough, roll it to a properly-sized circle and crimp it. I call our crimps ‘dramatic.’”

“I love our Sister Pie-It Forward Program. We have these slips of paper and for $4.24 you can purchase one and put it on our refrigerator. Anyone who comes in can grab it and use it for a free slice of pie.”

Sister Pie (photo courtesy of EE Berger)

“Every now and then we like to dance in the kitchen. It’s a fun way to release energy!”

“One Monday night per month we have Sister Pie Townhall Meetings. These are private, employee-only get-together’s where we sit at the store table and talk, eat and drink. It’s an open forum, a chance to empty the suggestions box and give everyone a chance to speak honestly about whatever’s on their mind.”

“We also offer classes here. They’re put up for sale quarterly. We host classes all year long, conducting maybe 3-4 per month. There are about 8 students per class and we do them here at the bakery. Lindsey teaches the pie dough classes and I teach the hand pie classes.”

“Wedding orders are hugely popular at Sister Pie. Especially during the warmer weather, we’re doing several wedding orders every weekend. If you or someone you know are interested in this, shoot us an email at [email protected]”

“As a business, Sister Pie has a Triple Bottom Line. This is a focus on being mindful of people, planet, and profit in every decision we make.”

WHAT TO TRY AT SISTER PIE?

Ruby loves Sister Pie! (photo courtesy of Lisa Ludwinski)

Sister Pie offers an array of deliciousness. Most of their pies have a 9-inch diameter, except for the mini pies, hand pies and they make special 6-inch pies for the holidays.

Here are some recommendations:

Salted Maple Pie (“Considered to be our signature flavor, it has classic chess filling with Grade B maple syrup from Imlay City, Michigan”)
Chocolate Coconut Pie
Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Apple Sage Gouda Pie
Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Feta Hand Pie (“If there were a hand pie fan club, this is the hand pie they’d serve at their meetings.”)
Egg-on-Top Galettes
Honey Lemon Meringue Pie (“Cloud-like meringue, we use a kitchen torch to toast the meringue.”)
Rhubarb Rosemary Streusel Pie
Sister Salads
From Another Galaxy Brownies
Sour Cherry Bourbon Pie
Fennel Snickerdoodle Cookies
Savory Hand Pies
Peanut Butter Paprika Cookies
Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Beet Pie
Spranola (granola, honey, yogurt)
Blueberry Lemon Thyme Pie
Brandy Pecan Pie
They even do Paczki’s for Fat Tuesday! Maple coffee cream paczki, Grapefruit Hibiscus paczki, and the Pieraczki (pierogi-paczki hybrid)

THE IMPORTANCE OF FARMS

Michigan farmland (photo courtesy of Pure Michigan)

The State of Michigan has 10 million acres of farmland and over 50,000 farms.

Farms (and long-haul truckers) are the backbone of America, yet they are continually underrated and under-credited. Businesses like Sister Pie help farms and farmers achieve more recognition of their importance.

“Sister Pie works with dozens of farms and farmers! We try working with farms in Michigan, especially within the city of Detroit.”

“Our offerings are based on seasonality. April to November are the main months for Michigan farmers.”

Guernsey Dairy

“We get fresh whipped cream delivered weekly from Guernsey Dairy. We use heavy cream in many of our recipes. It provides a richness and flavor. The fat affects the texture of filling. We whip it up daily for pie, it’s especially good with more tart pies, helps balance the tartness.”

“We get sweet potatoes from Farmer Norm, buckwheat flour from Hampshire Farms, Northern Spy apples from Erwin Orchards and Farmer Joe Jessup in South Haven, etc, the list goes on and on.”

“As a team, Sister Pie even does an apple-picking trip once per year.”

“In the beginning, we started going to Eastern Market in Detroit to see what was available. That in-person interaction deepened many of our relationships with farmers. Now, they will typically deliver directly to us or we will still meet them at Eastern Market and pick it up there.”

LISA ON WRITING HER COOKBOOK

Lisa @ Sister Pie (photo courtesy of EE Berger)

One thing I appreciate is that Lisa made her cookbook fun. Most cookbooks are not fun. They’re usually instructional textbooks devoid of personality.

Lisa’s cookbook is the opposite, laced with idiosyncratic texture and overflowing with humorous asides, which makes it a unique experience, much like visiting Sister Pie. My two favorite lines are: “When you’re not in a pie mood (as if!)” and also “Over the years, the cookie has evolved much like a story in a game of telephone”.

Lisa explains:

“How the cookbook happened is basically I wrote a book proposal, got some recipe taste-testers together and it took some time, but we eventually compiled over 75 recipes.”

“It was listed by the New York Times as the Best Cookbook of 2018. Since it was published a few months ago in October, we’ve sold around 30,000 cookbooks. Here at the Sister Pie store in Detroit, we’ve sold over 1,000 copies.”

“It’s been a huge hit with home bakers. The Pie Dough recipe, for example, is very accessible. It’s a good opportunity for home bakers to use it and exercise patience. When a recipe tells you to wait, just wait, it will pay off. Please take the proper time to follow the baking rules for best results. I know it’s tough! The part of patiently waiting is an area I still struggle the most with. But it’s worth it.”

“My advice to fellow writers is to keep writing every single day. The whole process of getting the book published took me a full two years.”

“I even took a month off from the bakery to be a full-time writer. That may not seem like a lot, but believe me, taking an entire month off from your business is a huge deal. It’s a big gamble and one I was willing to take because I trusted my employees. During that time, I would write 6-8 hours per day. I worked on it at home, in various Detroit coffee shops and also Up North in the Torch Lake area.”

“EE Berger took the photos and she did an incredible job bringing a fresh, unique perspective to our bakery and baked goods.”

RYAN’S ADVICE

When visiting Sister Pie, get there when they open.
Try everything.
Participate in the Sister Pie-It Forward Program.
Buy the cookbook. Read it and use it.
Be sure to check out Sister Pie’s Instagram. You’ll be Insta-hungry.

GET A JOB AT SISTER PIE

“We typically hire about every six months or so. Overall, we have good employee retention. We hire via a sign posted on the door. More than half of our employees live within walking distance and we do tend to hire only Detroit residents.”

FUN FACT

Lisa is also a talented artist!

She drew the designs of Crimp Drama and What’s Shaking Sister Pie and also the cookie box labels.

FINAL THOUGHTS (FOR NOW) & UPCOMING DEVELOPMENTS

Lisa Ludwinski (photo courtesy of Sister Pie and Frame Hazel Park)

I give Lisa and her team a lot of credit for everything they’ve been able to do. It’s been a remarkable journey thusfar with many adventures yet to come. It will be interesting to continue following their development as visions of Sister Pie pies and cookies dance in our heads.

And remember that you can pre-order pies 48 hours in advance. They must be placed by 2pm two days in advance of pick-up. This is great for people who live far from the bakery.

One recent develop is that Esto’s Garage (1811 Parker Street, Detroit) will be opening next to Sister Pie. This Mexican-American casual eatery is run by Esteban Castro. I’ve known Esteban since he had a pop-up residency at Café D’Mongo’s Speakeasy. His guacamole is off the chain!

Maybe we will get to see a Sister Pie & Esto’s Garage collab at some point? A taco and pie night, perhaps? Maybe with some margaritas, too?

“Currently, we are entering our next phase as a business, and looking at a space we would rent in addition to this place, somewhere in the same general area.”

“We’re looking to grow, get more kitchen space, add more classes, increase our Savory Food Program of sandwiches, soups, salads. Possibly even have some gluten-free pie crust.”

“One recommendation I have to everyone, especially you home bakers, is to start a Baking Club in your neighborhood. Get some friends together, pick a different cook book monthly, each of you make something out of it, then meet at each other’s houses to sample the creations. There are so many great cookbooks out there, but they’re rarely fully explored. This would be a good way to change that.”

CONTACT SISTER PIE

Sister Pie

8066 Kercheval Ave

Detroit, MI 48214

(313) 447-5550

Email:

[email protected]

M-F 8am-4pm

Sat-Sun 9am-4pm

Homepage

http://sisterpie.com/

Buy the Sister Pie Cookbook here

https://www.amazon.com/Sister-Pie-Recipes-Stories-Big-Hearted/dp/0399579761

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/sisterpiedetroit/?hl=en

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/SisterPie/

Yelp

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sister-pie-detroit-2

Lisa’s Youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/lisaludwinski/videos

400+ Photos from the 2nd Annual Detroit Festival of Books @ Eastern Market!

2nd Annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest) photo by Debography

Huge THANK YOU to everyone for making Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest) fun and successful!

And to Eastern Market’s Market Manager Lonni Thomas. Without her love & support, this festival would not exist.

Official estimates say that we had approximately 10,000+ attendees throughout the day for the 2nd Annual Detroit Festival of Books at Eastern Market.

These photos are courtesy of Detroit photographer Debbie Maciolek and her company DEBOGRAPHY .

Debbie says:

“I had an absolute blast at Detroit Bookfest! Really enjoyed it, especially meeting the book dealers and authors and listening to all the great conversations. Thank you to all the people who interacted with me and helped me get great shots. It was a very diverse crowd of vendors and attendees and I loved seeing all the books, smiles, great food, records, hearing the funk music and I look forward to going next year!”

Debography Email

[email protected]

Debography Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/debographyphotography/

Debography Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/DebographyPics/

Debography Twitter

https://twitter.com/debography

And get out your calendars…..

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books!

Sunday, July 21st, 2019

Eastern Market, Detroit

Facebook event page

https://www.facebook.com/events/2128622190753187/

2nd Annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest) photo by Debography

Exclusive Interview: Author, Lawyer & Former Detroit Mayor DENNIS ARCHER on his memoir ‘Let the Future Begin’!

Photo Courtesy of Detroit Archives

“Ding!” the elevator door opens. I step inside. Whoosh! The marble-paneled elevator cruises fast up to the 40th floor of Ally Detroit Center, tallest office building in the State of Michigan and the 2nd tallest building in Detroit.

I spill out onto the 40th floor, immediately enraptured by the fantastic vantage of Detroit’s cityscape, including spectacular views of the Guardian Building, Detroit’s main US Post Office and the Ambassador Bridge.

Photo by Ryan M. Place

619 feet tall. 43 floors. I’m almost at the very top of the building, here inside the world headquarters of the Dickinson Wright law firm where Dennis Archer is Chairman Emeritus.

Dickinson Wright has 450 lawyers in over 20 offices in the United States, helping people in 40 different areas of law.

I’m here discussing Mr. Archer’s new memoir, ‘Let The Future Begin’.

The title is based on the slogan his mayoral campaign manager, David Axelrod, created for him. Axelrod later became President Obama’s chief strategist, senior advisor and CNN commentator.

Mr. Archer’s memoir is a fascinating, thorough and riveting account of his incredible life and career.

Sitting here now with me, Dennis is soft spoken, careful, measured, brilliant, a natural tactician and we have an absorbing 2.5-hour long conversation, going well beyond the initial 45 minutes we originally intended.

Photo by Ryan M. Place

Dennis is a patient listener and thoughtful conversationist. Listening to people, rather than telling them what they want, has always been his leadership style.

Archer was a popular Mayor because he was perceived by most people, regardless of political affiliation, as someone who truly cares about the city of Detroit and its residents. Speaking with him, you can tell his concern is sincere and genuine and not some contrived act for the cameras.

Widely admired for his strong moral philosophy, Archer has spent his life relentlessly focused on the value of education and encouraging people to learn as much and as often as they can to help improve their lives and communities.

Having attended Wayne State University, Western Michigan University and Detroit College of Law, Dennis Archer went on to become:

A husband, father, teacher, Michigan Supreme Court Justice, partner at Dickinson Wright law firm, two-term Mayor of the City of Detroit, the first African American president of the Michigan Bar Association and of the 400,000-member American Bar Association, president of the National League of Cities and creator of the Dennis W. Archer Foundation, where he’s given out $1.5 million dollars in scholarships to students.

Dennis Archer is a hard-working, dedicated, no-nonsense, man of action and this is his tale.

Quick Biography

Photo by Ryan M. Place

Born New Year’s Day 1942 at Rogers Hospital in Detroit, Dennis Archer lived here until 1947, when he moved to Cassopolis, a rural village in Southwest Michigan.

Dennis grew up poor in a house with an outhouse and he bathed in a big metal tub every Saturday night.

Cassopolis Court House

His father’s family was from North Carolina and Logan County, Ohio and he had one arm, a 3rd grade education and was an extremely hard worker. His mother’s family was from Virginia and both were very influential in Dennis’ life.

Cassopolis was small town USA. Cat litter was invented here in 1947 by resident Ed Lowe. Dennis grew up here listening to doo wop, caddying & golfing and working at the local pickle factory. In 1959, he moved back to Detroit after high school graduation and enrolled at Wayne State University.

MLK in Detroit c. 1963 (photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

He was a drummer in the school marching band when they played for President JFK in Washington, D.C. in 1961. Two years later, Dennis marched with 125,000 people led by Martin Luther King Jr. down Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit when he gave his first ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in 1963.

Dennis eventually transferred from Wayne State to Western Michigan University to become a teacher. He graduated and returned to Detroit where he met fellow teacher and future wife Trudy DunCombe, an EMU grad, in 1965.

After that, he enrolled in the Detroit College of Law, got married and became involved in the fields of law and politics in Detroit.

Kresge’s Department Store (photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“What do I like most about Detroit? Everything. I was born here. I remember my first five years on earth here. My dad sent my mother, who was pregnant with me, from Cassopolis to Detroit to be born in a hospital. Cassopolis had no hospital and our house didn’t have a telephone.”

“The first place I lived in Detroit was my Aunt Hattie’s on McDougall Street, a few blocks down from Joe Louis’ mother’s house, they lived at 2100 McDougall. Then we moved to my Grandma’s on Rivard and Lafayette in the Black Bottom neighborhood. We’d walk downtown to Kresge’s Department Store frequently. Detroit has always been a fascinating and wonderful place to me.”

Writing His Memoir

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“I did not keep diary or journal but my wife kept news articles. I wrote the book after having been encouraged by a number of people who finally convinced me that it might be very helpful and enlightening to my sons and grandsons and the general public to have a record of my experiences.”

“My grandsons were 11 and 8 years old when I started writing the book in August 2015. Took me a while to figure out how best to write a book without a lot of emphasis on “I”. If you pass by a fencepost and happen to see a turtle sitting on top, you know it didn’t get there by itself.”

Eliabeth Ann Atkins (photo courtesy of Atkins Greenspan)

“By working with a co-author, Elizabeth Ann Atkins, she could interview the people who were a part of Detroit and my life and they could share their true feelings with her. The book was finally published in December 2017.”

People of Color

Dennis Archer playing golf (photo courtesy of Doug Ashley)

“People of color used to not be able to join the Detroit Golf Club until Coleman Young helped change that. Cardinal Szoka nominated Mayor Young and he became a Social Member in 1986, which paved the way for other people of color to join like Walt Watkins, Walt Douglas, S. Martin Taylor and myself, etc.”

The Detroit Riots

Detroit Riots 1967 (photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“The Rebellion of 1967 increased my motivation to be a lawyer. In Spring 1966, I started at Detroit College of Law. I taught school during the day and attended law school at night and graduated January 1970.”

“In 1967, I was a student law clerk at the firm of Damon J. Keith. I got married on June 17, 1967. My father-in-law and I liked to play golf, so I picked him up the morning of July 23rd . We were coming home, and we could see smoke in the air, hear sirens. A lot of sirens, more than usual. Distant yet deafening. I dropped him off and drove home to our apartment. That’s when Trudy told me how things had started.”

“Gov. Romney and Mayor Cavanagh asked for troops to come in. We lost 47 lives and over 7,000 people were arrested and were housed on Belle Isle.”

“Detroit Recorder’s Court judges put a call out for all lawyers to come out and help the people held in custody by explaining to them the legal process and what they were charged with. I watched Judge Keith’s firm participate in providing people legal assistance and I saw how important lawyers were in the process of protecting people’s rights and the whole experience really increased my motivation to be a lawyer.”

Being Mayor of Detroit

Mayor Dennis Archer (photo courtesy of Detroit)

On January 1st, 1994, Dennis Archer became the 67th Mayor of Detroit, which at the time was America’s 8th largest city. He served two terms and ended his service on December 31st, 2001.

Dennis inherited a monumental task of revitalizing the city. He experienced:

photo by Ryan M. Place

General Motors purchasing the Renaissance Center which changed the city in a very positive way.

The Nancy Kerrigan knee bashing at Joe Louis Arena.

The creation of 3 casino’s in Detroit: MGM, Motor City and Greektown.

Allowing Detroit Electronic Music Festival (aka: DEMF, Techfest) to start in Hart Plaza. This festival continues today and is known as Movement.

The creation and flourishing of Campus Martius.

Encouraging Peter Karmanos to move his Compuware Corporation from Farmington Hills to downtown Detroit.

And more.

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“Well, my motivation to run for Mayor was built up over several years and came from a broad spectrum of people who encouraged me to seriously consider running for Mayor.”

“For the longest time, I thought ‘Me run for Mayor? I’m just happy to be on the Supreme Court!’”

“I saw the businesses leaving the city, crime rate going up, city having fiscal problems, buses not running on time. People were taking 2-3 buses just to get to their jobs, which were outside the city. We’re the largest metropolitan area in the USA that did not have a rapid transit system.”

Loveland’s Detroit Map (image courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“Detroit in the 1990 U.S. Census was said to have 1,027,000 people and led the nation with the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line, 32.2%.”

“It was ironic that in the Motor City, 35% of our residents could not afford to own a car.”

“At its peak, 1953-54, Detroit had almost two million residents.”

“When you fast-forward to the early 1990’s and subtract over 800,000 people who were no longer living here, the same housing stock was not needed and, thus, we had many vacant homes and empty blocks.”

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

“Some blocks only had 1-2 houses on them and there was a lot of illegal dumping of trash and waste. Our residents didn’t have jobs. Businesses had left the city. We were having challenges with public schools. There’s was not a lot of optimism or hope here. But there was a deep yearning for change.”

“I was fortunate to be able to attract over 6,000 campaign volunteers who believed in our thoughts for a greater Detroit. I had asked the people directly what were their real problems and what did they want for their city, their children and what would make them excited? Together, we devised a plan of action.”

Inheriting a Deficit

Photo courtesy of Detroit Bail Bonds

“We had a big surprise after the election and I found out from the head of my financial transition team, Jay Alix, that the city of Detroit was anticipating an $88.5 million-dollar deficit.”

“We went to New York and met with the powerful ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. They knew every detail about the city of Detroit, it was incredible. We were at junk bond status. The city had to actually buy insurance in order to sell our bonds.”

“We brought us back up to investment-grade status.”

Kevin Orr (Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“When my successor Kwame Kilpatrick stepped down, Mayor Bing inherited a $315 million-dollar deficit. Governor Snyder tried working with the city of Detroit to avoid appointing an emergency manager, however, when the Consent Agreement failed, he had to appoint Kevyn Orr.”

“Kevyn ended up doing a masterful job and helped guide Detroit through the largest municipal bankruptcy in USA history. $18 billion dollars in debt was successfully restructured and a revitalization plan was implemented.”

“Back in the 1960’s, Mayor Cavanagh had predicted unless he had help, Detroit faced bankruptcy. One of the main reasons was population decline. Revenues in the form of income tax & real estate tax were not coming in to help fund the running of the city.”

Being a Big City Mayor is Tough

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“We had some very outstanding plans for the city but when you find out you’re facing a deficit and there’s no money to implement those plans, that money goes to balancing the budget.”

“We had a modest surplus, a rainy-day fund and every single year I was in office, the budget was balanced and at one point the two pension funds were overfunded. The hardest part was not being able to live up to the citizens high expectations for the city of Detroit.”

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“By earning an Empowerment Zone designation, President Clinton’s urban renewal program gave us a hand up. Governor Engler’s Renaissance Zones helped us bring in new business. I convinced Vice President Al Gore to have an EZ (Empowerment Zone) meeting in Detroit. We had the most successful EZ out of all the EZ’s in the USA. The number of investments were staggering.”

“While I was in office, we were able to attract $20.2 billion dollars in new investments to the city.”

“Brenda Schneider documented the investments and number of projects that came in every year. Her findings are in the Appendix of my book.”

Dennis Helps Attract Investments to Detroit

Greektown Casino (Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“In 1994, we had a ballot initiative for a riverboat casino at Atwater and putting an Indian-owned casino in Greektown.”

“The casino ballot passed for Greektown and Gov. Engler appointed a commission to study casino gaming. We convinced them we could have up to 4-5 casinos in the city of Detroit. We had several proposals.”

Trump Casino in Detroit rendering (Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“Even Donald Trump wanted to build a Detroit-themed Trump Casino here. Another casino mogul, Don Barden, later tried getting pop singer Michael Jackson to be a casino partner with him here. Barden eventually went to Ohio to support a statewide ballot. The issue lost there and we won a statewide privilege of having up to 3 privately owned casinos in Detroit.”

“MGM and Motor City opened in 1999, then Greektown in 2000. Without revenue from those casinos, the city of Detroit would’ve been bankrupt a long time ago.”

Ilitch’s, Gov. Engler, Mayor Archer (Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“Comerica Park, the new Tigers stadium, was on its way. Mike Ilitch had bought the Detroit Tigers from Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan. Like Mayor Coleman Young, we wanted to help Ilitch keep the Tigers here in the city. I investigated the feasibility of upgrading the stadium. The upgrade could not be done to accomplish their goals and the fans’ needs. We were able to get funding from the state and city to help build a new stadium.”

“Then the Lions came to Detroit from Pontiac. Bill Ford Jr. of Ford Motor Company couldn’t work out a new deal with the city of Pontiac, so we worked with him to bring the Detroit Lions football stadium downtown. We were blessed to have the Ilitch and Ford Families to work together.”

Devil’s Night

Devil’s Night Detroit (Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives)

“Devil’s Night in Detroit was the name for the night before Halloween. It was notorious because of the arson. In 1983, there were 650 fires on Devil’s Night.

“In 1984, there were over 800 fires. After I became Mayor, I said this has to stop, especially since we had a problem in 1994.”

We created Angel’s Night after the idea was presented to us by John George. It took a few years, but it has been deemed a complete success. ”

Detroit Fire Department t-shirt (Photo courtesy of Detroit Fire Dept.)

Urban Renewal of the Sprawling Motor City

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

“New housing was being built in the city. Bob Larson (Vice Chairman of Taubman Co.) led a group that developed a zone concept to deal with vacant land in Detroit.”

“They divided the city into 10 zones. We invited representatives from each zone to Cobo Hall and we engaged them to elect people from each zone to talk to citizens in their zone to find out what they wanted done to help improve their lives.”

“Like I said in the book, when I was Mayor, the pace was frenetic, crisis management was constant, but the crime rate declined every single year I was in office.”

“We also helped beautify the parks. At the time, many were overgrown, dangerous, had no basketball nets. Bill Davidson, owner of the Detroit Pistons and his colleagues installed basketball courts and baseball diamonds. Then we helped to generate 30 more parks being cleaned and fully upgraded. Later they set up a $1 million-dollar endowment to help keep up the parks. The deal was that the City of Detroit Parks and Rec Department would keep it mowed and maintained.”

“Community organizers were painting houses, fixing porches, etc. Habitat led to a major effort within the city. ”

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

“Edsel Ford II said yes to being our Champion to celebrate the 300th Anniversary of Detroit on July 24th, 2001. He raised millions of dollars for Detroit. He also started the RiverWalk from Cobo to Ford Auditorium. We had tall ships, a 100-person choir singing. Part of the funds Edsel raised helped to build Campus Martius.”

“Roger Penske got the Grand Prix to come back to Detroit, spent a lot of his own money to do so.”

“I remember I was looking at Belle Isle with the Parks & Rec Department, thinking what would it take to redo Belle Isle? Our bond rating had gone up and we could borrow up to $80 million to redevelop Belle Isle. I said, we could charge per car and that money would go toward the maintenance of the park and we could pay off the bond in 14 years.”

Had we done that, it would’ve already been paid off by now. But, as a result of Detroit’s bankruptcy, the state of Michigan has Belle Isle for 30 years and are upgrading the island.”

Advice from President Clinton

“A few weeks after I got elected in 1994, I spent the night at the White House in the Lincoln Bedroom. President Clinton lost his voice after the State of Union address that evening, but we still talked while watching the Arkansas basketball game.”

“At the time, I was doing 3-4 speeches per day, trying to promote the city of Detroit. I asked him ‘how do you do this all the time?’ He said, ‘never make an important decision when you’re tired.’”

Deciding Not to Run for Mayor Again

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

“I decided not to run again because I was physically tired. I was working 16-18 hour days 7 days per week. Religious entities have church on Sunday, so I attended multiple functions every single Sunday. I enjoyed being mayor but also felt a new person with new and different ideas could take us to the next level and would be more helpful.”

“A few years later, I became President of the American Bar Association and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Detroit’s Regional Chamber.”

What Makes a Great Mayor

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“Caring more about the people they’re serving than about themselves makes a great mayor.”

“Someone who is not afraid to stand up and fight for what’s right for the citizens of the city, help those less fortunate, improve opportunities for everyone, improve the police and fire department, listen to people and help solve their problems, etc, there’s a lot of components. Treat everyone fairly and with respect.”

The Law firm of Dickinson Wright

“Chairman Emeritus is a title of appreciation for my accomplishments on behalf of the Dickinson Wright firm while I was chairman.”

“When I left the Michigan Supreme Court in December 1990 and joined Dickinson Wright as equity partner in January 1991, I was trying cases, having meetings, and searching for solutions to the problems of the city of Detroit.”

“I was delighted that I could also help open doors for minority businesses and it allowed them to show that people of color can be successful.”

Some of Dennis’ Favorite Detroit Spots

Central Kitchen + Bar (photo courtesy of CKB)

Central Kitchen + Bar (“my son’s and his investors’ restaurant”)

London Chop House

The Caucus Club

Joe Muer’s Seafood

The Rattlesnake Club

Sinbad’s

Bakers Keyboard Lounge

Jimmy D’s Celebrity House (used to be on Livernois, it’s gone now)

Lafayette-Orleans Bar (also gone now)

Favorite Authors & Books

“I like John Grisham books. ‘Bobby Kennedy’ by Chris Matthews. Authors Charles Ogletree, Jesse Jackson, Robert Harris, and other Civil Rights leaders. ‘Dr. Martin Luther King’ by Taylor Branch.”

“Usually, I have to do a lot of required reading as a lawyer, so my reading-for-pleasure time is very limited.”

Eastern Market: A Detroit Gem

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

“Eastern Market is an outstanding resource for the city. Go by and visit Father Norman Thomas at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. One of the things on my agenda was to try and have Eastern Market open seven days per week, not just Saturday.”

“I asked Fr. Thomas to chair the initiative and he became head of the Eastern Market Task Force to help make Eastern Market a more attractive destination. My family and I still go down to Eastern Market frequently. We buy real Christmas trees there and buy BBQ at Bert’s and we’ll be at Detroit Bookfest.”

The Legacy of Dennis Archer

Photo by Ryan M. Place

“What do I want to be remembered for the most? I’ll leave that to historians.”

“Just remember, when you put people first, good things will happen. And yes, the small things in life do make a difference.”

Let the Future Begin

https://www.amazon.com/Let-Future-Begin-Dennis-Archer/dp/1945875127

Dennis Archer profile

https://www.dickinson-wright.com/our-people/dennisw_archer?tab=0

Atkins & Greenspan

https://www.atkinsgreenspan.com/blog/2017/12/11/former-detroit-mayor-dennis-w-archer-to-release-memoir?rq=archer

American Bar Association

https://www.americanbar.org/diversity-portal/diversity-inclusion-360-commission/commissioners/dennis-w–archer.html

Photo courtesy of Detroit Archives

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