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I was a crazy kid all my life. But I also worked all the time. When I was 10 in 1958, I had nobody who cared where I was. I took the bus (with transfers) from Dearborn Heights to the heart of Detroit...Woodward Avenue near Hudson. In a few years, I spent many hours in Detroit. From Hudson to the Fox theater and down to the river front: I loved Detroit. Having an interest in photography, I became good at capturing events on my Pentax camera.
In 1964, I interviewed with Dianne Edgecomb who ran the Central Business District Association. Even though I was young, she was impressed by my work. In 1967, I was on an assignment when I saw the smoke and fires and heard the sirens. I stayed all night (crazy kid) photographing what was going on: all of the screaming, shooting, looting, the National Guard, the burning buildings, the police and firemen. I had no way of knowing what was going on. I actually thought we were being invaded by Russians! In the morning, tired but still shooting pictures I returned to the CBDA office. Dianne couldn't believe I was there in Detroit all night. I spilled out the many rolls of exposed film as proof. I got paid but never saw my pictures in print.