May 30 2008
Susan Agar: Blessed to Be in Michigan
Freep columnist Susan Agar has a nice, if platitudinous, column about the joys of life within Michigan in the face of our current turmoil:
A colleague who moved to Motown from our nation’s capital almost 3 years ago told me of our big city: “Beating up and beating down Detroit is almost ritual. Yet there’s a boatload of pride. So what if it morphs sometimes into defensiveness? At least this place fights back. It keeps swinging.”
[No doubt.]
I asked a few people to describe for me why they celebrate Michigan. Phil Power is 69, a native Michigander and former newspaper publisher who founded the Center for Michigan (www.thecenterformichigan.net) as a “think-and-do tank” about our future.
Here’s what he said:
“I celebrate Michigan’s past, whether the mighty loggers and brave miners or the entrepreneurs who created great companies: Ford, Dow, Upjohn, Kellogg, Hudson and so many more.
“I celebrate Michigan’s present. Our unmatched natural resources — fresh water, woods, streams. Our world-class universities. The skills and guts of our people who hold their heads up in times of trouble.
“I will celebrate Michigan’s future as a thriving, prosperous state that offers so much to keep our kids home and welcome newcomers who want an unmatched quality of life at an affordable cost.
[Phil Power for Governor, anyone?]