May 19th, 2023

Rich grew up in the Flint area participating in sports and music. He graduated from Grand Blanc High School and then attended Mott Community College where he toured Europe with the award winning Mott Community College Jazz Ensemble. After Mott, Rich attended Michigan State University where he received his bachelor's degree in trumpet performance. While at MSU, Rich won the outstanding lead trumpet award 3 years in a row at the Notre Dame University Collegiate Jazz Championships. Right before leaving MSU, Rich won a nationwide audition to be the lead trumpet with the Disneyland All American College Band in Anaheim, CA. At the end of his contract at Disney, he was offered full scholarships to both North Texas State University and the University of Southern California.

Rich chose to pursue a masters degree in Jazz Studies at USC. Right after USC, Rich accepted a position playing lead trumpet on a Los Angeles based cruise ship. After 2 years on the ship, he relocated to San Francisco where he ended up touring with Huey Lewis. In 1989, Rich auditioned for and won the lead trumpet spot with the premier jazz ensemble of the United States Air Force Jazz Ensemble, The Airmen of Note. After 10 years with the USAF, Rich was diagnosed with hernias of the neck. A serious injury for a trumpet player. He was medically retired from the Air Force. But he wasn’t done.

He moved to Austin, Texas, a city affectionately known as “The Live Music Capital of the World.” While in Austin, Rich played with everyone he could. He even convinced Multi Grammy Award winner, Willie Nelson, that he needed a trumpet in his country band. For ever 20 years, Rich performed as a freelance musician all over the country. He played on the soundtrack for the remake of The Alamo and toured and performed with Lenny Kravitz.

The last 5 years have taken a toll on Rich. In 1998 he was diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer of the liver. Soon after completing his chemotherapy, he contracted his first round of Covid. In 2021, he got Covid again. That meant he was unable to play trumpet for almost 4 years. In late 2022, Rich decided to move back to Flint and live a little more relaxed life style and get back into playing. He’s not retiring. Just slowing down.

Rich has a nonprofit called Horns in the Attic that locates musical instruments for kids that can’t afford them and will be performing as much as he can in the greater Michigan area. 

By: Gary Fisher

President - Genesee County Historical Society

In the esteemed list of Flint pioneers there is one name that always gets forgotten: Arthur Jerome Eddy. He was born in Flint in 1859. His father became a newspaper publisher purchasing the Genesee Democrat. Jerome was an early graduate of Flint High School (Flint Central), and subsequently headed off to Harvard to study law.

He did two years there and then was lured back to Flint to work in the family business and took over running the newspaper for his father for two years, while simultaneously studying law with a local Flint attorney. By 1888 he had married Lulu Crapo Orrell one of Michigan Governor Henry H. Crapo’s daughters, and first cousin to Flint legend, Buick savior, and General Motors and Chevrolet founder William C. “Billy” Durant.

Eddy soon left Flint for Chicago with his new bride to begin his legal career. But his journey became so much more epic than just the law. As a businessperson, he became the driving force in inventing the National Carbon Company which wound up owning 75% of the American carbon market. Carbon was heavily used in a variety of ways including being invaluable in the creation of industrial electricity, so his influential grew wide and deep as a result.

Later he helped organize many other world business giants including The American Steel Foundry Corporation and The National Turbine Company. Eddy would become most famous in the art world. He became a patron of Whistler (yes, THAT Whistler who painted his mother), and Rodin (Famous of the Thinking Man sculpture). A bust of Eddy’s head sculpted by Rodin is in the Musee Rodin (Rodin Museum) in Paris, and a painting of Eddy done by Whistler (Arrangement In Flesh Color and Brown: Portrait of Arthur J. Eddy) became world renowned. Imagine that: A Flint boy featured in sculpture in Paris!

Eddy’s place in the automobile world is among his most alluring achievements, however. And that is how he places so high in the Automotive Flintstone Pioneer Pantheon. It was Eddy who rolled into Flint driving a Panhard and offered Billy Durant’s daughter Margery a first ride in an automobile. She accepted the ride and when she excitedly told her dad the tale, he was shocked and angered at her reckless foolhardy craziness. Durant was still not sold on the safety or relevance of automobiles, although he would soon reinvent the entire industry. Eddy was an early herald for Durant pointing the way to his (and America’s) future.

In that same year, Eddy wrote his automotive masterpiece Two Thousand Miles in an Automobile based on his personal adventure setting a world record by driving his Winton from Chicago to Boston and back again. The book, written in the slightly oblique manner of the turn of the century, is quite funny. The books jacket tells the reader not to bother with it! Written under the pen name A. Chauffeur, it is self-effacing and sarcastic in the manner of a proper writer of 1901/02. However, it is also a fascinating detailed and completely original first dissertation of the epic story of travelling across America in an automobile.

His observation of the roads he drove is also prescient: “Michigan roads are all bad, and some are worse than others.” True then, true today! The book was wildly popular, and helped to seed the American public for the tidal wave of motoring technology that was to come. That wave would feature two Flint boys proudly riding at the top: Arthur Jerome Eddy, and his cousin by marriage who would build much of it, named Durant.

It is not that big of a surprise that they both hailed from ‘The Vehicle City’ of Flint, Michigan. Eddy’s life was sadly not long enough given the myriad of endeavors he was engaged in, he still had plenty to offer. He died at age 61 in New York City and is buried in Flint at Glenwood Cemetery.

Gary L. Fisher

President 

Genesee County Historical Society

Rodin Sculpture of Eddy

Al’s Garage

Vol. 4, Issue #5

"So, you are looking for an affordable collector car?"

First and foremost, I would like to issue a disclaimer, that the following article is solely based upon my opinion and not that of any self-proclaimed official professional society or think tank organization.

Over the years I have been asked, “Where do you think the collector car hobby is headed? Are there any more affordable collector cars out there?” In my humble opinion, ‘Yes’! In fact, there is a diverse selection of cars that look good and range in price from $5,000 and up. So, let’s look at what I think are affordable future collector cars.

Starting in the mid-80’s and moving forward:

• Pontiac Fiero, 1984-1988. Both coupe and fastback body styles, total estimated production: 370,168 all units.
• Buick Reatta, 1988-1992. Coupe and convertible body styles, total estimated production: 23,889 all units.
• Cadillac Allante, 1989-1993. Convertible body only. Removable hard top optional, total estimated production: 21,430
• Plymouth and Chrysler Prowler: 1997-1999 (Plymouth), 2000=2002 (Chrysler), total estimated production for both Plymouth and Chrysler: 11,702 
• Chevrolet SSR Pick Up, 2003-2006. Disappearing hardtop, total estimated production: 21,150
• Chrysler Crossfire: 2004-2008: Convertible and fastback body styles, total estimated production:76,014
• Ford Thunderbird: 2002-05: Convertible with removable hardtop, total estimated production: 68,098
• Cadillac XLR and XLR-V: 2004-2009: Convertible with disappearing hardtop, total estimated production: 12,787
• Pontiac Solstice: 2006-2010: Convertible and a few coupe (2010 only – 1,266), total estimated production: 65,724
• Saturn Sky: 2006-2010 (only 82,010 models); Convertible body only, total estimated production: 34,415 
• Buick Casada: 2017-2019, convertible body style only (produced in Gliwice, Poland), total estimated production: 370,168 produced for the entire world.

The foregoing cars range in price from $5,000 and up with the Chrysler/Plymouth and Cadillac XLR-V models at the top of the price range but still considered affordable. Most all these models have strong base support via individual make clubs that conduct regional and national meets. As for drivability, all will get you where you want to go in style, with the comforts of any newer cars that are sitting on the dealer’s lot. Except for one model (the Buick Casada) all the rest of the cars listed are two-seaters. If you have a family, flipping a coin to see who stays home when Dad wants to go cruising, will most likely not sit well with Mom! Something to consider. But if you are ‘empty nesters’ and are looking for something a little sporty, consider what is listed above. And consider this, it is very unlikely that these cars are going to go down in price. So, go for it.

Finally, look at the picture that comes along with this article. The first person who can correctly identify the year of the car pictured, the year that the picture was taken and the person behind the wheel will win a ‘2023 Back to the Bricks’ T-shirt. Submit your answer to the Executive Director at [email protected].  

Good Luck and we will see you at the 3rd Annual Dust ‘em Off Car Show.

Keep on Rollin'

Al Hatch

Founder of the Back to the Bricks® 

Chairman Emeritus