Gordie Howe Hockey Great Passes Away at 88

Yeah, a great one.
He was still playing when I lived in Detroit in 66-67 working on a degree at Wayne State U.
 
That's my Alma Mater Exwisehe. But when I was there, it was called Wayne University. That's what it reads on my diploma.
 

My husband got his masters degree and worked on his doctorate at Wayne State in the 70's. We lived in the Cass Corridor (I learned to never let a man pick out an apartment without me seeing it first.....)

The first time I saw Gordie Howe (or any hockey game for that matter) was a televised hockey game that was being played in Russia, probably somewhere about 1972. The American players were being greeted by young Russian women who were presenting them with salted bread (a traditional Russian welcome gift) and a kiss on the cheek. He grabbed the girl greeting him and gave her a big kiss on the lips. The Americans cheered and the Russian players glowered. Then he skated off and promptly fell on his ass. The Russians cheered and the Americans had their turn to glower. I think it was some kind of exhibition game with players from various teams.
 
Well,

I was at Wayne State University on an NSF grant. They wanted some of us math teachers to go back, get a Masters and begin teaching at community colleges.
I lived in an apartment at Forest and 2nd Ave. They were called Forest Arms back then. I don't know if they are still there or not.

The summer of '67 was when the riots rocked Detroit. Some of us who didn't have anywhere else to go decided to stay and tough it out as the shooting and looting took place. I stood at my window and watched people break down the windows of the Kroger store across the street and take away grocery cart after grocery cart of food. After a couple of days, Pres. Johnson decided to send in some tanks and fly some fighter jets over the city. Things settled down a little after that. I was awarded my degree about 2 weeks later.

I had an interesting time in Detroit. A country boy from Virginia who had gone to a Baptist college and didn't know anything about a big city. It was a culture shock. This is back when the Hippie movement hit, the drug culture was full swing, the nude marijuana parties, the love-ins, and go-go girls in seedy bars, Viet Nam war dissenters, and young ladies burning their bras, and young guys burning their draft cards. I'm surprised I made it through this in one piece. I got married one year later.
 
As I mentioned, we lived in the Cass Corridor, situated between the Anderson Gardens Show Bar and the Willis Street Strip-O-Rama, which were #1 and 2 on the police blotter at the time. I almost packed up and moved back when I saw the area. I hadn't ever lived in the "gritty city" before and it was a shock. Several years ago, I went back to Detroit to visit and decided to take a sentimental journey back to our lovely apartment on Willis Street. Much to my dismay, I found out that Willis was now a dead-end street and I have to make a multi-point U-turn to get out, supervised of course by some of the local fine residents. I said, "God, just get me out of this place alive and I will NEVER come back!" Our old building was a derelict and the whole neighborhood looked like Beirut.

The only reason we were there at all was that Wayne State had started the first overseas masters degree program on an American military base and my late husband was lucky enough to be accepted. Woohoo! A master's degree for $50. Unfortunately, it was such a poorly designed masters degree that Wayne State was the only doctoral program that would accept it. I guess it just wouldn't have looked good to admit their own masters degree wasn't good enough for their own doctorate program?

Luckily, we only lived there for a year until we bought a house in Ferndale, which wasn't much better but at least was north of 8 Mile Road.
 

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