Author Archives: hro50ta1

Noisy food joints

Posted on September 12, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Older I get, the more I can’t stand public places with loud music or concentrated high levels of chatter. Know what I mean? Stopped going to a wonderful little Italian joint in Northville, Michigan because I couldn’t … Continue reading →

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Tank Town

Posted on September 9, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Love to watch hummingbirds? Hummers feeding, hummers making war — it’s one of my favorite sports. For years at our Michigan home, I hung a nectar feeder under the eave of our house. It got so I’d … Continue reading →

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Of rats and humans

Posted on September 8, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell What kind of human being would do this: Fire 6,000 employees, freeze the pay of those who remain and then demand they take 12 percent pay cuts. And give himself a 50 percent raise, banking $4.7 million … Continue reading →

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Who’s corrupt?

Posted on September 7, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell A retired newspaper reporter was fuming about John and Monica Conyers. How could John Conyers, the Detroit congressman, not have known his wife was awash in bribe money while she was a member of the City Council? … Continue reading →

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They never ask the dog

Posted on September 3, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Peppermint Patti JOTR Columnist It’s not fair to blame it all on the two-leggers, Sophie. And yet. It’s hard for me to see how I myself could be to blame. Was it my decision to load up a car … Continue reading →

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What’s wrong with the yard

Posted on August 30, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Peppermint Patti JOTR Columnist I’ll tell you about my summer from hell later, Sophie. Right now, I want to know what in the world happened to all the bush-tails? When we left this place, there was a spring crop … Continue reading →

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Florent Tillon’s ‘bonus’

Posted on August 9, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell French filmmaker Florent Tillon e-mailed the “bad news”: Instead of including our July 2009 motorboat trip up the Rouge River as part of his main feature movie, “Detroit Wild City,” he turned our river excursion into a … Continue reading →

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Susan Tompor: ‘We did win!’

Posted on August 5, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell JOTR favorite Susan Tompor has won the Detroit Free Press charity popularity contest. I was curious about what had happened after I urged readers on July 23, 2010 to vote for Susan in the paper’s “Reader Envy” … Continue reading →

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Blasto!

Posted on August 4, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell We nearly lost our star columnist. Last time I wrote about Peppermint Patti, she’d undergone surgery to repair a snapped anterior cruciate ligament. They shaved her left hind leg and a veterinary surgeon reconnected the ligament in … Continue reading →

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Not so easy, this journalism thing

Posted on July 29, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I’m a fan of Sara Paretsky and her V.I Washawski private eye novels. Hadn’t read Paretsky in years. My wife brought the Warshawski detective novel, Blacklist, on our vacation to Canada. I read it, enjoyed it, and … Continue reading →

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