As pre-teens, Doug picked on me mercilessly for being obese.  Which woke me up to the fact that, at that time at least, fat people were not as socially-acceptable as nomral-sized people.  Which found me losing all my excess weight in a matter of weeks.  So, thank you, Doug.

He also cheated me out of some money at a little bowling game I had in my basement.  Which woke me up to the fact that people don't always "play be the rules".  Which. since that time, has made me "think twice" before simply trusting someone, something which has held me in good stead when I do it, and hurt me when I don't.  So, thanks for that, Doug.

I considered myself a pretty good athlete before Doug moved into the Bagley neighborhood (on Pennington, just south of 7 Mile) from the Fitzgerald one.  However, I didn't realize what "good" could mean, athletically, until I watched Doug play basketball, baseball (All-City pitcher), street hockey, etc., at which point I had a new standard to measure myself by; a higher standard to shoot for.   So, thanks, Doug. for (unconsciously) doing that. 

Others have said what a good person Doug became as an adult.  My fondest example of that was at our 30th or 40th reunion: when we were 12 or 13, Doug and I got into an actual fist fight (which I guess kids nowadays don't get into anymore, because they're glued to their "screens" all the time).  Well, at the reunion, Doug said, "I still have bruises from that fight(!)", which was an incredibly-gracious way of '"tipping his cap" my way; showing me the measure of respect he knew he hadn't shown me as a child.  So, thank you for that, Doug.

Of course, what Doug didn't know, since he was so new to the neighborhood, was that I worked every Summer, even as a pre-teen, in my father's furniture store, helping deliver 100-pound chairs and 200-pound sofas!  In other words, as he so rudely found out that long ago day -- and commented on those many years later: when I hit you, you knew you got hit!

May you rest in peace, my friend.  Thank you for opening my eyes to so much of this world!

One fascinating thing about African Grey's I doubt you would know: when a group of them gets frightened, they make a round cluster with each other, noses to the center of the cluster, red tails out, which makes the whole thing look like a gray "shrub" (like, a green shrub, but with the morning dew on it), with red flowers all over it, thereby fooling potential predators into thinking what they're looking at is simply a bush, not a prospective meal.
Also, don't know if you know it (though you probably do): their favorite food (in fact, virtually their only food in the wild) is sweet potatoes.

Do you still have the parrot? I have a blue-and-gold macaw; just turned 40.
Used to actually import parrots, until the larger importers got together with the USDA (who oversaw importation) and worked out a way to wipe us smaller importers out, which they did. Unfortunately, I was unwilling to go down without a fight, which eventually earned me a two-year stint in Lompoc Federal Prison Camp.

Always admired you and envied you. Not just for your God-given athletic ability, but the fact that, while most of us Mumford grads were flopping around like fish out of water, having not a clue what we wanted to do in life/be in life, you apparently knew exactly what you wanted to do/be: the "King of Menswear"! While we were beating our brains in, trying to learn subjects we knew we'd never use, you were making freakin' TV commercials! With the Van Arsdale twins, no less!
Yes, you and I had our "differences"; lots of kids do. But I want to personally thank you for being a role model for me; letting me know that it's OK to be what you want to be, rather than what others THINK you should be.
Yes, I know, not every day of your life has been a "bowl of cherries"; whose life has? But hopefully, that's all behind you now, and you can enjoy your Golden Years with your lovely wife and three terrific sons!
Love ya,
David

"Larry Brilliant." Tough name to live up to, but it looks like you've done it. Congrats!
Still have the white T-Bird; 1957 model, if memory serves?

Since you mentioned the Krim theater, Roger: met the owner, Max Krim, one day.  He had parked his car on 7 Mile Road, right in front of U of D High School. on his way to Beth Abraham Synagog, on the corner of 7 Mile and Roselawn.  The car was a Dual Ghia--https://www.hagerty.com/valuation-tools/dual~ghia/hemi/1957/1957-dual~ghia-hemi.  It had a badge on the front quarter panel: "Carrozzeria Ghia/Torino".  Was the only one I ever saw in Detroit.

And, as I've mentioned previously, I, too, loved Ron, who was absolutely unique for Mumford: direct, no B.S., no "airs"; riding around with all his buddies in his Buick (were you one of those guys?) 

Of course, the only reason I got to know Ron at all is he was good friends with a girl I was in love with: Susan Elkind, who passed very young, apparently of a drug overdose (did you know her?  She was beautiful; wonderful pianist).

Anyway, hope you stay healthy, and get to see me on TV, later in the year.

Love, 

David Rives

Pick-up baseball game at Mumford.  Large guy playing first base; had never seen him before.

Batter hits a ground ball to the shortstop, who throws over to first base.  Ball takes a short hop about two feet in front of first baseman -- one of the hardest catches in baseball to make.  First baseman leans down and backhands the short hop as if it were the esiest thing in the world to do.  My jaw drops, and stays dropped for a good minute.  Had never seen someone make such a difficult play so nonchalantly -- especially someone in his mid-teens.

Over and above all the other Hall of Fame things he went on to do, that, to me, was Frank Goldberg.

To add to my comment on the motorcycle picture, re Marshall Rubinoff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spike_Drivers#:~:text=Rubinoff%2C%20who%20was%20married%20to,days%20past%20his%2024th%20birthday.

Posted on: Sep 01, 2023 at 6:39 AM

Re the motorcycle picture: Still remember riding around on the back of that bike. Maybe my greatest thrill at Michigan. Probably the reason I got my own bike (1978 Honda CK 750, single overhead cam 4-cylinder) the first chance I got. Sad that Marshall Rubinoff's experience with motorcycling didn't end as successfully as yours More…

Posted on: Sep 01, 2023 at 6:35 AM

Posted on: Aug 14, 2023 at 5:42 PM

Marshall: Not seeing much of an "updated profile"(??)
How've you been? Are either of your brothers still with us: David and (I believe) Michael?
Fond memories of Woodhull Lake, your cottage on the corner, a block up from The Big House.
Remember when you got the beagle puppy; you called it a "bagel" puppy, which, as 12-year-olds, we found hilarious!
Remember you living in the "old neighborhood" (Dexter/Linwood/Davison/etc.) quite a while after most everyone else had moved up to the Woodward-Livernois-Wyoming-Meyers "corridor". And then, when you DID move, doing it with a splash: gorgeous T-Bird; swanky leather jackets, etc.
Can't remember why the sudden change in "situation" (thought it had to do with some sort of real estate deal [or business] that finally "broke through").
Anyway, if you'd like to reminisce a little more, feel free to email me — davidrives@hotmail.com — or call: (805) 901-6071.
Love ya!

A real "pepper pot".  A go-getter.  Never a "down" moment.

Remember Share Pharmacy, just off of 6 Mile, near Palmer Park.

Remember Jerry's lovely home on Pennington, a couple doors north of Margareta.

Sad that we never got together in later years, even though we lived just a half-hour away from each other -- I, in Liberty, Missouri, Jerry in Overland Park, Kansas, possibly the most upscale city in the entire state (think our own Sherwood Forest and Palmer Woods).

Glad we got to know each other, my friend.

Posted on: Jun 19, 2023 at 4:35 PM

Happy Birthday, Irv. Any updates on your work (cancer, etc.)? BTW, was I wrong in saying, five years ago, that it's likely that you owe your whole career to mainly one man: Mr. Strzepek?

How ya doin', old "partner-in-crime" (cf, "The Merciless Pistons"?)