The Book Club of Detroit (BCD)
We hosted a summer afternoon at
Signal-Return, a letterpress studio at Eastern Market in Detroit. Signal-Return
transformed an empty storefront into a studio for the authentic craft of
handset printmaking. We saw their presses, browsed type collections, and
watched a demonstration of hand type setting and printing on a proof press. Given
BCD members’ predilection for books, it deepened our appreciation for the handset
printing process. Attendees left with a print from the set type.
Photo of poster printed at BCD Signal-Return event.
Image source: Frank Castronova.
Member Dr. Jerald Mitchell, a
retired professor of anatomy, president of The Model T Automotive Heritage Complex Inc., and artist, gave a talk called “Seeing and Shaping
the Future in the 20th Century: H.G. Wells and Henry Ford.” Mitchell
compared and contrasted Wells and Ford on several dimensions. For example, Mitchell
stated, “Wells influenced by his ideas. Ford changed life by his actions.” We toured Mitchell’s renovated home, built by
Henry Ford in 1908. Mitchell restored the home with period furnishings and architecture—some
of the original trim and hardware was stored in a garage for years. In a second
floor library, we browsed his rare book collection and peered onto the historic
Boston-Edison neighborhood of
over 900 homes constructed between 1905 and 1925. In addition to Henry Ford,
early Boston-Edison residents included Horace Rackham, James Couzens, Sebastian
Kresge, and Joe Louis. Today Boston-Edson is home to a diverse population with
a common appreciation and love of historic homes.
During September, Gregory A. Fournier, author of Zug Island: A Detroit
Riot Novel, informed and entertained members at a dinner meeting. Fournier’s
book won a Finalist Award from the 2011 USA Best Books competition and a 2012
Los Angeles Book Festival Honorable Mention. Fournier grew up in Detroit and
taught English language arts for 37 years before pursuing his writing career. Zug
Island tells a story of friendship and race relations during 1967. BCD invited
members of the Detroit Drunken Historical Society and Lit in the Mitt
to attend.
We will close the year with
our annual members holiday dinner. This year’s speaker will be Dr. Charles K.
Hyde and his talk will focus on “Revisiting Rosie the Riveter.”
We sadly report the death of two
longstanding BCD members. Frederick Gale Ruffner Jr. was a member for over 50
years and founded Gale Research Company, which became one of the largest reference book
publishers in this country. After selling the company in 1985, Fred started Omnigraphics, another reference publishing company that still
operates in downtown Detroit. His older son heads Avanti Press, a Detroit-based greeting card company. James Earl
Beall, BCD president 1994, held an internationally recognized book and art
collection and was one of the last tax generalists. After he earned degrees in
law and tax, Beall appeared as an expert witness before U.S. Tax court and was
listed in The Best Lawyers in America since the publications inception. His rare book collection held many items
including a woodblock illustrated edition of Grimm Fairy Tales with a tasteful bookplate
designed by Rockwell Kent.
