Encounters with Remarkable Men

Encounters with Remarkable Men 40 Years of Photography by

Douglas Elbinger

Encounters with Remarkable Men 40 Years of Photography by

Douglas Elbinger

All photography in this collection Copyright Š 2010 by Douglas Elbinger Prints of individual photographs are available for purchase at www.elbinger.com

Published by Meridian Studios, Inc., 2010 Edition 3.6

Dedication This book is dedicated to my mother, Ruth Denenfeld, who always provided love and encouragement; to Ruth Frishman, who gave me my first camera; and to Tony Spina, chief photographer of the Detroit Free Press, who gave me my first job.

Tony Spina Chief Photographer Detroit Free Press East Lansing, MI 1991

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Justin Kestenbaum, Ph.D. Professor of History Michigan State University East Lansing 1990

Acknowledgements & Gratitude

I will never forget the day I developed my first roll of film in soup bowls in my bedroom closet. I was fourteen years old.

I remember the instant I opened the closet door and held the wet film up to the window, looked at the film and realized I had found my calling. Since that day there are many who guided me along the way. My heartfelt gratitude goes to my family, friends, mentors, colleagues, staff and especially every one of my clients, who over the years encouraged me to keep exploring with my camera. You know who you are.

Special thanks to a few of my photographic mentors: Bob Benyas, Tony Spina, John Collier, Justin Kestinbaum, Jack Dehn, Charles Lewis, and Wa Lui. They made this all seem possible.

For many years I followed Congressman Bob Carr on the campaign trail, learning the political process from the inside out. Bob Carr is also a remarkable photographer in his own right. On the campaign trail, I also met Carol Conn, who was instrumental in assuring that I had good access to the MSU Celebrity Lecture Series, the Michigan Festival, and endless political events from which many of these portraits originate.

Special gratitude goes to my brother, Lewis Elbinger, who is one of the more remarkable people I’ve ever met.

He has been a spiritual and intellectual guide all my life. We are true brothers.

To Miles Chance, dear friend, accomplished photographer, fly-fishing guru, world traveler, has a unique sense of humor that helped me keep my perspective over the years.

To Nancy McCaochan, dear friend, yogi, shaman, and English professor has graciously asked me the right questions and helped me stay focused on my mission to complete this book.

And to my wife, Judy Brysk, who’s love and companionship makes these adventures all the more worthwhile.

Doug Elbinger Bloomfield Hills, Michigan June 2010 2

Introduction

An Interview with Douglas Elbinger

by Nancy McCaochan “At various times,” he told me, as he looked at the plate of sushimi before him, savoring the textures with his eyes, “I’ve been the governor’s personal photographer.” We had just met, but I could tell that Doug Elbinger was not like anyone I knew. Both unassuming and intense, he was keenly aware of his surroundings and the people in it— as if he were capturing images with every glance.

I wasn’t exactly sure what being the personal photographer for Michigan’s governor entailed, but I was duly impressed with the photos on Doug’s website, www.elbinger. com, that I viewed days after our initial meeting. These were not the standard fare of the portrait studio.

Doug’s pictures were distinctive. His subjects were simultaneously more life-like and more beautiful, emitting a vitality that’s missing in most portraiture.

Photographers frame the world they see, capturing the dance of light and shadow as it moves through nature, culture, and individual human lives. Doug is one of those rare people able to perceive the beauty in the dance and to record it for others to see as well. Whether tagging along with Marianne Williamson on her rounds as inspirational speaker, standing backstage at a Rolling Stones concert, mingling with policy makers at the state capitol or hanging out with his fishing buddies, Doug’s innate desire to see beyond appearances into the inner spirit of his subjects makes his photographs unique.

On my most recent visit to his studio in Okemos, Michigan, Doug shared Doug with Robert F Kennedy at Lansing Airport rally, 1968 the photos in this book with me. I was fascinated. As I turned the pages, I felt as though I were looking at the annals of late 20th century life. The Beatles and Rolling Stones on stage, Robert Kennedy and B.B. King—some of the most influential figures in American culture and politics appeared before me. I became aware that I was holding history in my hands.

Intrigued by the contents, I began asking questions. The following interview is an outgrowth of these questions and my awe.

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Nancy: How did you become interested in photography?

Doug: I’ve always been inquisitive. Even as a child I wanted to know why it is and how it works. I used to take my toys apart to see what made them tick. At an early age I learned that painting and drawing helped me understand the world around me. Encouraged by those who told me I had an aptitude for art, I became proficient at using charcoal, pastels and oils—all by the age of 12.

I first picked up a camera to photograph something I wanted to paint. It was then I discovered that the camera was my path to learn how and why.

Not content to take pictures, I wanted to learn how to develop and print my own photos. In the basement fruit cellar, I learned to develop film and make prints, following instructions I’d found in the World Book Encyclopedia. At first I was amazed that I could make images at all. Then I began to realize that I could make images that spoke for themselves. Before the digital age, there was an arduous task to making quality photographs. It took great skill and sensitivity to coax an image into being through the various chemical baths of developer, fixer, and wash. Bringing images to life from negatives required patience and a “feel” for when they were “done.”

In high school I volunteered to be the photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook, and came to realize the power of the craft I was so avidly learning. My friends thought of me as a magician because I would take pictures one day and appear at school the following morning with snapshots of them and their activities.

About this time I learned that once I put a camera around my neck and called myself a photojournalist, doors would open and opportunity abound. In school I was excused from class to photograph special events and was allowed to wander the halls at will. I was given permission to be back stage at plays and on the sidelines of football games. This special treatment fed and inspired the chronicler in me. I liked the role of being a witness to the events which are now history. Being there with my camera seemed to validate the significance of the event. My early camera-around-my-neck, carte blanche entry to important events surprised me at first. It got me on stage with the Beatles, and a few weeks later enabled me to get past the (by today’s standard) light security surrounding the President of the United States. This feeling of privilege has carried with me in my career and has deepened to become a sense of personal responsibility to “tell the truth” through my images.

Portrait of Doug by Lady Ostapeck, New York, 1975

(l-r) Miles Chance, Congressman Robert Carr, Tony Spina, and Doug Elbinger at the opening of Tony Spinas’ exhibit in East Lansing

Nancy: Was your early photography experience limited to the high school paper and yearbook?

Doug: No, actually, it wasn’t. While still in high school I apprenticed with Tony Spina, Chief Photographer for the Detroit Free Press for a while. I got to know him because I won a scholastic photography contest in the 11th grade. The contest was a part of an annual Detroit Boys’ Day Convention. As a prize, the winner got to “be” anyone he wanted to be for a day—the mayor, a councilman. When I was asked what I wanted to be, I said “the editor of the Detroit Free Press.” It was during then that I met Tony. He saw something in me and my photos, took a liking to me, and told me that if I ever needed something to call him.

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Doug with George Winston Backstage at the Wharton Center, East Lansing, 2006

I assisted him on several assignments and eventually he became my mentor. It was Tony who taught me that wearing a couple of Nikons around my neck would get me in almost anywhere. One camera at a concert or a political rally and you might be a fan; two cameras, however, meant you were serious about taking pictures. Only a “real” photojournalist would have 2 or more cameras.

The practical reason for this is that when one ran out of film, you pick up the other and keep shooting. Each camera had a different lens enabling more variety of view, and of course you must always have a back up because they do break down.

In my spare time, I went everywhere I could with Tony—on assignment and into the dark room. In those days there were not many ‘how to’ books about photography, and there weren’t any courses that I could find in how to take pictures. The way anyone became a photographer was to apprentice with someone. And so I learned by doing. Eventually I began to be paid for my work; during the summers I was hired on as a “stringer” and paid by the job. In this capacity I was sent to Lansing, for example, to take photos of political events. It was at these functions that I began to meet people who would eventually become clients.

Nancy: It seems as though you picked up a camera and never looked back. Did you ever make a conscious decision to become a photographer and if so, what influenced you to make this your life’s work?

Doug with former Michigan Governor Milliken and former Attorney General Frank Kelley

Doug with Tom Izzo East Lansing, 2004

Doug: Although there were many reasons that I chose photography as a profession, three stand out as being the most significant.

One of my early childhood memories is seeing a book of Civil War photographs by Matthew Brady. The year was 1960, and I was 10 years old. The ‘mania’ of the civil war centennial had just begun. I was sitting alone one evening on the couch in my parents’ home flipping through the pages. I saw the faces of the actual people who made the war happen. Here I was …one hundred years later, looking into the same faces and sharing the same moments in time that Brady had experienced! History came to life for me that day.

The more I read about Brady and studied his photographs the more he intrigued me. Finally it hit me that this man had the singular vision to record the events unfolding before him using the highest technology of his time, -- wet plate photography.

He was always in the right place at the right time with his camera.

For some unknown reason, this made a lasting impression on me.

Several years later, while I was shadowing Tony Spina, I made the conscious decision to become a photographer.

Another event, also in 1960, that influenced my early photographic interests was the election of John Kennedy. President Kennedy represented a new era of possibility and hope. My awareness of my place in history was awakened. It occurred to me that what are now ‘current’ events will soon become ‘historical’ ones.

With this motivation I began photographing the events and people around me, hoping to preserve what my life was like as I lived it. I was making a sort of personal journal, but instead of writing in a book, I was making visual, “snapshot’ entries. I had no other conscious goal than to satisfy my never-ending curiosity. Subconsciously, I think 5

I had the desire to be a modern day Matthew Brady, documenting people and events so that a hundred years later people would look back in awe as I had when I saw his photographs of the Civil War. The 3rd influence that shaped my career was a book by the early twentieth century philosopher George Gurdieff, titled Meetings with Remarkable Men, an autobiographical journal of his travel and exploits in search of meaning in his life. I read this while in college and thought that I, like Gurdieff, should dedicate my life toward the pursuit of truth, knowledge and beauty. I chose to use my career as a photographer to enable me to do just that.

Nancy: The title of your book seems to reference the Gurdieff book. Is that deliberate and if so, in what ways are the men who appear in it remarkable?

Doug: Yes. It is deliberate. I thought “encounters” to be more appropriate than “meetings,” since it more accurately describes both the circumstances in which the photographs were made and the impact that the various men have had on my life.

Doug with Hillary & Bill Clinton East Lansing 1992

Early on in my career I learned that it is not what you look like… but who you are that gives character. All of the men on these pages have uncommon and distinctive character. Some of them are people I’ve known all my life, and some are individuals with whom I’ve had truly brief encounters. Nonetheless, they’ve made an impression on me. I’ve read their books, seen their plays and movies, listened to their music, and pondered their ideas. Some are personal friends, some are business associates, and some are political leaders most of whom I admire.

I chose the men for this book because they fascinated me. In some way they have affected me, inspired me, and fueled my intellectuDoug with Arnold Newman, Detroit, 1994 al or artistic curiosity. I am attracted to intellect. In all cases, these are men with ideas, talent, and vision. None of these men are mediocre.

A few of the faces in this book belong to (in my opinion) woefully misguided men; I went to see them, I took their pictures because I wanted to see for myself who they were and hear with my own ears what they had to say. In each case and whatever the circumstances, I considered their portraits self-portraits, taking pains to make them as attractive as I would want to be. With few exceptions, most of these faces are beautiful and exude kindness, sensitivity and wisdom.

Nancy: You’ve said that there were no classes in photography when you were young. What, then, was your major in college?

Doug: I proudly confess to having a full scholarship to attend Doug with Senator Albert Gore Sr., 1998 Michigan State University, which I did from 1967 - 1971. I was in the Russian program at Justin Morrill College… a residential college.

As you may have guessed, I’m a history buff, but my academic work, in addition to a major in Russian, was in linguistics.

Nancy: Talk to me a little about those early days.

Doug: I worked for a short while as a ‘stringer’ for the Detroit Free Press while I was a student at MSU. I was also 6

a staff photographer for the State News and free-lanced for the United Press International. I’ll never forget my excitement the first time one of my photographs appeared in Sports Illustrated, then Time, then Newsweek.

After college I worked out of my home. I networked and built my business by word of mouth and by taking every opportunity to have my photos seen. My first exhibit was in Beggars Banquet, a restaurant in East Lansing in 1975. It was the perfect venue: blank walls, a captive audience. I left business cards and contact information with the photos and people began calling. I also had connections from my work at the Free Press. Governor Milliken’s’ office remembered me from those days and started calling. From there I got referrals to state and county officials who needed publicity photos. This was before the days of 1-hr or even 1-day developing. Because I had learned to use a dark room, however, I was able to deliver pictures the day after I took them. Everyone needed their photos ‘yesterday’ and I was able to deliver.

Doug Elbinger

While in college someone asked if I photographed weddings.

“Yes,” I said, and that phase of my business took off. Wedding photography involved both photojournalism and portraiture.

I was ‘networking’ long before the concept became fashionable. I also attended some workshops with Charles Lewis and Wa Lui, two photographers who generously shared their knowledge about marketing, sales, and management. It was Charles who encouraged me to exhibit—cafés, restaurants, galleries, government buildings—any public space in which there were blank walls became a venue for me to showcase to my work.

But it wasn’t only business acumen that I learned in those first few years. I was fortunate to meet and learn from Justin Kestinbaum, a history professor at MSU. He was also a professional photographer and a master in the darkroom. He had been a professional photographer since the 1930s and understood optics, film emulsions, and light in ways that few others did. His technical expertise was unparalleled. He even mixed his own developers.

Doug with Colin Powell, Detroit, 1996

Photography had long been considered a “black art.” If you were a photographer, you didn’t want to let everyone know your secrets, because then you’d have competition. So there was an element of secrecy about it. Further, half of the creative side was done in the dark with chemicals that could kill you. Justin, however, was happily welcomed into my studio and darkroom and freely shared his knowledge. From him I learned a lot about the traditional craft of bringing images to life.

Nancy: How would you describe this book?

Doug: First of all, it’s a collection of male portraits, candids, and commercial images that represent only a few of the thousands I’ve made over the last 40 years. It’s a collection of men because, when I began to think about how to organize my body of work, rather than making categories by profession or chronology, I decided to segregate by gender. Frankly . . . it was easier that way. This also leaves me with enough material in my archives to publish a volume (or two) of remarkable women.

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The portraits, which appear in no particular order, are all my personal favorites for a variety of reasons. Embedded in some of the photos, are the roots of my vision as an aspiring photojournalist. In some ways, Encounters with Remarkable Men is a retrospective of my photographic career, showcasing some of the highlights, both personal and professional. I also see this as a composite self-portrait and a visual autobiography.

Along the way, I’ve been fortunate to have excellent mentors.

Many of them appear in this book---not just photographers, but other artists, writers, musicians, politicians, personal friends, teachers, philosophers, spiritual advisors, and even relatives from whom I’ve been able to glean knowledge and sometimes wisdom.

You’ll probably recognize many of the faces as you browse through these pages. In a personal way they’re the faces that made history during the last half of the 20th century. But don’t expect to recognize everyone. Although the “celebrity” aspect of this volume is interesting, this is essentially a photographic journal of my personal mission.

Doug with Lee Iacocca at his home in Bel Air, California, 2007

Some of the portraits I did for the simple sport of it, convinced that, as a photographer with a press pass, I could go anywhere. Some were pure photojournalism, some are family snapshots, and some are commissioned studio portraits. Each of these photos has a different story. Some were taken just because I could be part of a significant moment or personal event that I wanted to see and hear for myself.

The instant the image is made—it’s history—a moment of time frozen forever. You can hold it in you hand, hang it on a wall, or print it in a book. It’s a mirror with a memory.

Nancy: You’ve described this volume as a retrospective, how does it reflect the development of your art and your vision?

Doug: I have yet to read a photography book or attend a seminar that teaches how to “see” light. But I’ve been fortunate to apprentice to photographers who not only see light but also know how to use it and make it work for them. It took me years of practice before I understood this and felt competent to do this. Photography is not magic, but it does require discipline and faith.

Doug with Gustav Meier, Lansing, 2005

As I practice it, portraiture is a Zen art. It’s the art of being in the right place at the right time with the right light and the right stuff.

It’s also the art of being aware of the interplay of light and shadow and the magic that opens up within this dance.

I should mention here that having the right subject also helps. After 40 plus years of looking at people through the medium of a camera, photographic confidence comes naturally to me, like breathing. I see beauty everywhere, and I sometimes feel that I’m being self-indulgent because I like to make photographs just for the pure joy of creation. I like to carry a camera with me whether I’m “working” or not.

Doug Elbinger with The Rolling Stones (Composite Photograph Made From Two Images)

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Although composition, form, and the use of light were an early focus, what drives me now is the psychological aspect, that is setting up circumstances—either in my studio or on location—that make it comfortable for my subjects to be open enough to give me their portraits. I really do not like to “take” pictures anymore.

I much prefer that they be “gifted” to me. By this I mean that subjects who are at ease in front of the camera exude self-confidence. They’re relaxed with who they are (or are used—like many celebrities—to being photographed) and exude a radiant energy when a camera is pointed in their directions. Some people are naturally telegenic in this way. Others need to be coached to radiate their inner light. This radiance is the gift.

I don’t “take” it; it’s something I receive.

Every time I pick up my camera, an adventure unfolds. I’m addicted to the thrill of discovery since I can never quite predict how a session will go or what will emerge. Regardless of the skill I bring to the moment, there’s an element of chance in each session.

Nancy: Can you say a little about your style and creativity?

Doug: My technical style has evolved over the years as I’ve acquired better cameras, skills and as technology has improved. But, looking back, I can see that my style is rooted in photojournalism first and fine portraiture second. I first picked up a camera to document what was happening around me and then, as I acquired aesthetic skills, I began to imitate the now-classic photographic styles of Yousuf Karsh, Richard Avedon, and Philippe Halsman as well as the environmental portraits of Arnold Newman.

My conscious intent is to fuse the realism of photojournalism and the art of classic portraiture. My favorite painters are Rembrandt because of his use of light and John Singer Sargent for his posing and for the ambience that he creates. In some ways I have never left my childhood roots: I still see with a painter’s eye and use the camera to record the beauty and truth that surround me.

Creativity is something else. Toward the end of the “film era” in photography, I began to feel as though there was nothing really new. It had all been done before. Then everything almost overnight went digital, and Photoshop became the dominate tool in my bag of tricks. With this technology, anything you can visualize, you can achieve.

You want me to take out your chins or to thin your thighs? No problem. You want (or don’t want) hair? What color? You want the background to rain frogs? How many?

This brings creativity to a new plateau. Most of the special effects that you see in movies or on T.V. can be done on your desktop. We can now make images that have never existed in physical reality. I love Photoshop for its possibilities. Nonetheless, I made my transition from the darkroom to the digital age when I was confident that the technology was good enough to make black and white images (this photographer’s benchmark) with the same qualities that film did. Once I could make black and white photos that had voice equal to those I could make in the darkroom, I switched.

I wanted my portraits to look like an Ansel Adams landscape, so I waited until June 2001, before I switched.

Speaking of Ansel Adams, there’s an anecdote about him that works here to illustrate a different aspect of creativity. The chronicler of Yosemite was once admonished that he had no people in his photos. His reply was “Look into that [the photo]; there’s a little of you and a little of me.” That’s what creativity is for me: a little bit of my subject, a little bit of me—fused with the moment and for all time so that the viewer can bring a little bit of him or herself to the photo.

This is an aspect of creativity that harkens back to what I said earlier about having photos “gifted” to me.

It’s about being in the flow of life and totally present. At such times, although I position light sources and set conditions so that my subjects are comfortable, creativity is about being sensitive to nuances of feeling so that my finger depresses the shutter at just the right moment. Creativity is about seeing with new eyes, and photography has enabled me to do this. It’s been a vehicle for growth and opportunity,both professionally and personally.

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The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes but of having new eyes.

- Marcel Proust

Note from the Photographer: Although you may recognize many faces in this book it is really not about celebrity. It is about photography and portraiture. It is a celebration of my forty years in photography, which has enabled me to go many places and meet many remarkable people. The portraits appear in no particular order, and due to time and space constraints, I was not able to include as many of the faces I really wanted. Over the years and due to many moves, I have lost, through natural or self made catastrophes, numerous negatives and files that in a sense ought to have been included, they are here in spirit. I am consoled by the hope that this book is not yet completed, and is only a "work in progress."

Douglas Elbinger Bloomfield Hills, MI 2010

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The Beatles Olympia Stadium Detroit August 13, 1966 The Beatles played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit on August 13th, 1966. There was an afternoon and evening concert and I had the privilege of photographing the afternoon concert from backstage.

I was assisting a photographer who had been given permission from Brian Epstein to photograph that days concert. While I was backstage, Neal Aspinall, the Beatles road manager, gave me a nod to get on the stage during the concert and from that vantage point I made the following photographs. When the lights went up I found myself between the Beatles and a double row of Detroit Police who were protecting the stage.

I also had the opportunity to observe the Beatles before and after the concert. They seemed to truly enjoy what they were doing; they were very friendly, posing for photos, talking and joking with anyone who could get through the security. They spoke with such thick accents that I had to listen very hard to understand what they were saying. They were serious about trying to give a good concert, even though they knew virtually nobody could hear them through the hysteria. When the Beatles ran up on stage I heard the loudest, spontaneous roar I ever experienced. In the ninety degree heat, I thought the top of the stadium would blow off. During the concert I stood not more than ten feet from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, watching them laugh and joke they missed chords and lyrics. John broke a string and just kept on playing.

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Paul McCartney & John Lennon

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Ringo Starr

Paul McCartney

George Harrison

John Lennon

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John Lennon

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John Lennon

John Lennon & George Harrison

Ringo Starr

John Lennon & Paul McCartney

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George Harrison Olympia Stadium 1966

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John Lennon Olympia Stadium 1966

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President Lyndon Johnson Cobo Hall Detroit 1966

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Vice President Hubert Humphrey Eastern HS 1967

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Robert F. Kennedy Lansing City Airport 1968

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Dr. Noam Chomsky Professor of Linguistics, MIT Author Lecturer political activist photographed at Kellogg Center MSU 1970

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Eric Clapton Grande Ballroom Detroit 1969

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David Crosby University of Detroit Fieldhouse Detroit 1972

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Red Skelton On stage & back stage Lansing Center 1979

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Dick Gregory MSU Auditorium 1969

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Allen Ginsburg & William Kunstler Detroit 1971

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Jimmy Hoffa on assignment for The Detroit Free Press Detroit 1976

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Robert Novak Citizens Symposium Kellogg Center MSU 1993

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Jim Cash & Jack Epps East Lansing 1987

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Alvin Toffler Kellogg Center MSU 1982

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US Senator Ted Kennedy Detroit 1980

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Wolf Blitzer Selfridge AFB 1993

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Tom Scott East Lansing 1994

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Yusef Lateef MSU Music Bldg. East Lansing 1979

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on the campaign trail Gov. Ronald Reagan former Gov. George Romney George Bush Birmingham MI 1980

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Ivan Illich Educator Philosopher Cuernavaca Mexico 1972

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Mark Russell Wharton Center Green Room 1995

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David McCullough Warton Center Green Room

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Ray Charles Michigan Festival East Lansing 1994

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Jose Feliciano & Christopher Reeves El Paso Texas 1998

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Governor Jerry Brown on the campaign trail Olds Hall MSU 1986

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Stanford Ovshinsky Bloomfield Hills MI 2008

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Henry Kissinger Citizens Symposium Kellogg Center MSU East Lansing 1996

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Daniel Ellsberg Fairchild Theater MSU East Lansing 1969

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Alfred Eisenstadt Dean of ’LIFE’ photographers “Tintype” Lansing MI 1975

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Governor George Wallace Detroit 1976

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On stage with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones Spartan Stadium East Lansing 1994

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Governor William Milliken Official State Portrait Governors Office Lansing 1980

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Governor James Blanchard Official State Portrait Governors Office Lansing 1983

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B.B. King State Theater Kalamazoo MI 1996

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Bob Hope Munn Arena MSU 1969

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Mikhail Baryshnikov Breslin Center MSU 1990

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Ken Burns Wharton Center East Lansing 2009

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William F. Buckley Green Room Wharton Center 1994

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Governor John Engler Governors Residence Lansing 1998

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Edward Albee Fairchild Theater MSU 1995 Celebrity Lecture Series

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Richard Ford Backstage Wharton Center 1996 Celebrity Lecture Series

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Thomas Knoll Inventor of “Photoshop” Ann Arbor MI 2004

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Eli Broad Builder Philantropist Wharton Center 2007

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Lee Iacocca at his residence Bel Air California 2007

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Ric Ocasek Castle Farms Charlevoix MI 1996

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Tom Waits East Lansing 1994

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US Senator Phil Hart Detroit 1977

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Walter Adams President of MSU East Lansing 1976

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Norman Vincent Peale Wharton Center 1991

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Jorge Luis Borges East Lansing MI 1972

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Charles Kuralt CBS News East Lansing MI Citizens Symposium 1992

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Ernie Harwell Country Club of Lansinng Lansing MI courtesy of Ele’s Place 2004

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Kurt Vonnegut Celebrity Lecture Series MSU Union East Lansing 1992

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Theodore Sorensen Snyder Hall MSU 1969

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Arthur Miller MSU Union 1989 Celebrity Lecture Series

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Thomas Wolfe MSU Union Celebrity Lecture Series 1989

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Arnold Newman Photographer Detroit 1998

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Henry Mancini Guest conductor for the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra MSU Auditorium 1984

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Former President Gerald Ford Wharton Center 1996

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Former President Jimmy Carter Detroit 2004

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President Bill Clinton arrives at the Lansing airport 1996

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Gov. Bill Clinton campaigns on the MSU campus East Lansing 1992

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Gov. Bill Clinton Mariott Hotel East Lansing 1992

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Former President Bill Clinton campaigns for Gov. Granholm Detroit 2006

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Gov. George Bush campaigns in East Lansing 2000

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Vice President Al Gore campaigns in East Lansing 2000

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General Colin Powell Detroit MI 1989

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Vice President Dick Cheney Breslin Center East Lansing 2002

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Jay Leno Breslin Center MSU 2005

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Stevie Wonder Michigan Historical Center Lansing 2006

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Jeff Daniels Green Room Wharton Center 2004

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Bill Cosby Backstage Wharton Center 2004

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Hugh Sidey Kellogg Center Citizens Symposium

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Vice President Walter Mondale Detroit 1978

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George Carlin Lansing 1972

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John Updike East Lansing 1996

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Carlos Fuentes Guest Lecturer MSU Campus 1978

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David Halberstam Celebrity Lecture Series MSU Campus

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Norman Mailer MSU Union Celebrity Lecture Series 1990

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Joseph Heller MSU Union Celebrity Lecture Series 1992

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Stephen Sondheim Celebrity Lecture Series Fairchild Theatre MSU 1997

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John Irving Celebrity Lecture Series Green Room Wharton Center 1997

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Oliver Stone Fairchild Theater MSU Celebrity Lecture series 2000

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Elmore Leonard Okemos Celebrity Lecture Series 2000

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George Winston Green Room Wharton Center MSU 2006

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Elton John University of Detroit Detroit 1971

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Chick Corea MSU Auditorium East Lansing 1979

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Rudolph Giuliani & Dick DeVos (background) Detroit 2006

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Ross Perot on the campaign trail Lansing 1992

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Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson Okemos 1992

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Michael Moore MSU Auditorium 2004

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Coleman Young Mayor of Detroit 1978

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Garrison Keillor Lansing MI 1986

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Paul Simon Breslin Center East Lansing MI 1995

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Jon Bon Jovi campaigns for Al Gore in East Lansing 2000

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Larry King Las Vegas NV 1998

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Irving R Levine Wharton Center MSU 1992

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Orhan Pamuk Nobel Lauriate for Literature Green Room Wharton Center MSU East Lansing 2007

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Vicente Fox President of Mexico Lansing Michigan 2005

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U.S. Sen. Max Cleland Detroit 2005

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Congressman Newt Gingrich Lansing 1998

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama Ann Arbor Michigan 2008

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Dr. Stephen Covey East Lansing Michigan 2008

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John McCain Kellogg Center Michigan State University 2008

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Barack Obama Kettering University Flint, Michigan 2008

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Ed Begley, Jr. Bloomfield Hills, MI 2008

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Thomas L. Friedman Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI. 2009

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Lech Walesa Las Vegas NV 1996

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History is kindest to those who write it.

- Winston Churchill

President Bill Clinton arrives at Selfridge AFB 1993

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Adams, Walter p.72 Albee, Edward, p.63

B

Baryshnikov, Mikail p.59 Begely Jr., Ed p.131 Blanchard, James p.56 Blitzer, Wolf p.36 BonJovi, John p.120 Borges, Jorges p.74 Broad, Eli p.67 Brown, Jerry p.45 Buckley, Jr., William F. p.61 Burns, Ken p.60 Bush, George H. p.39 Bush, George W. p.89

C

Carlin, George p.99 Carter, Jimmy p.84 Cash, Jim p.33 Charles, Ray p.43 Cheney, Dick p.92 Chomsky, Noam p.24 Clapton, Eric p.25 Cleland, Max p.125 Clinton, Bill p.83-86, 134 Corea, Chick p.112 Cosby, Bill p.96 Covey, Dr. Stephen p.128 Crosby, David p.26

D

F

Feliciano, Jose p.44 Ford, Richard p.64 Ford, Gerald p.83 Fox, Vincente p.124 Friedman, Thomas L. p.132 Fuentes, Carlos p.101

G

Gingrich, Newt p.126 Ginsberg, Allen p.30 Giuliani, Rudolph p.113 Gore, Al p.90 Gregory, Dick p.29

H

Halberstam, David p.102 Harrison, George p.14, 16, 18-19 Hart, Philip p.71 Harwell, Ernie p.76 Heller, Joseph p.104 Hoffa, Jimmy p.31 Hope, Bob p.58 Humphrey, Hubert p.22

I

Iacocca, Lee p.68 Illich, Ivan p.40 Irving, John p.106

J

Dali Lama,His Holiness p.127 Daniels, Jeff p.95 DeVos, Dick p.113

Jagger, Mick p.51-54 John, Elton p.111 Johnston, Ervin ‘Magic’ p.115 Johnson, Lyndon p.21

E

K

Eisenstadt, Alfred p.48 Elsberg, Daniel p.48 Engler, John p.62

135

Epps, Jack p.33

Keillor, Garrison p.118 Kennedy, Robert F. p.23 King, BB p.57 Kennedy, Edward p.35

King, Larry p.121 Kissinger, Henry p.47 Knoll Thomas p.65-66 Kunstler, William p.30 Kurait, Charles p.75

L

Lateef, Yousef p.38 Lennon, John p.14-18, 20 Leno, Jay p.93 Leonard, Elmore p.108 Levine, Irving R p.122

M

Mailer, Norman p.103 Mancini, Henry p.82 McCain, John p.129 McCartney, Paul p.14-16, 18 McCoullough, David p.41 Miller, Arthur p.79 Milliken, William p.55 Mondale, Walter p.98 Moore, Michael p.116

N

Newman, Arnold p.81 Novak, Robert p.32

O

Obama, Barack p.130 Ocasak, Rick p.69 Ovshinsky, Stanford p.46

P

Pamuk, Orhan p.123 Peale, Norman Vincent p.73 Perot, Ross p.114 Powell, Colin p.91

R

Reagan, Ronald p.39 Reeves, Christopher p.44 Richards, Kieth p.56 Romney, George p.39 Russell, Mark p.41

S

Scott, Tom p.37 Sidey, Hugh p.97 Simon, Paul p.119 Skelton, Red p.27-28 Sondheim, Stephen p.105 Sorenson, Theodore p.78 Star, Ringo p16, 18 Stone, Oliver p.107

T

Toeffler, Alvin p.34

U

Updike, John p.100

V

Vonnegut, Kurt p.77

W

Waits, Tom p.70 Walensa, Lech p.133 Wallace, George p.50 Winston, Goerge p.109-110 Wolfe, Tom p.80 Wonder, Stevie p.94

Y

Young, Coleman p.117

136

Begley, Jr., Edward James “Ed� (b. 1949) is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St. Elsewhere, for which he received six consecutive Emmy Award nominations, and his most recent reality show about green living called Living With Ed on Planet Green with his wife, actress Rachelle Carson-Begley.

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Friedman, Thomas Loren (b. 1953) is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.

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Encounters with Remarkable Men • Photography by Doug Elbinger • Published by Meridian Studios, Inc., 2010 142