Malcolm W. Bingay (1884–1953)

A collection of essays by the managing editor of the Detroit Free Press, and longtime Detroit newspaperman, on personalities and subjects relating to Detroit; hence the title of the book. In my view, a great deal of caution should be used in reading anything beyond his baseball essays; the sections on Sen. James Couzens and the 1943 race riots are problematic. Bingay blames Couzens for the 1933 bank crisis (which Bingay says triggered the banking crisis -- ignoring the role of the 1931 Bank of United States crash), and says the Detroit banks could have been saved. Other sources indicate not only is this a problematic argument, but that the Detroit Free Press and its publisher had a grudge against Couzens (which occasionally peeks through some of the verbiage). As for the race riot, Bingay blames it on "outsiders." Literally. The baseball stories are interesting, especially the essay on how Bingay created the character of Iffy the Dopester, who had a surge of popularity during the Tigers' winning 1935 season. (There exists other materials devoted to Iffy, and the Iffy Tiger, created by a Free Press cartoonist; one of the drawings is the frontispiece to the book.) An interesting snapshot of Detroit as it was in the mid-1940s, looking back 50 years, but as I say, exercise caution in reading this. Interesting note: there are quite a few autographed copies of this book floating about, judging from the internet.… (más)