When Aretha Franklin died this summer and we who loved her were awash in all things Aretha, I found myself remembering an afternoon at the Detroit Festival of the Arts when another Detroit legend, the great playwright Ron Milner, read a poetic reminiscence of his boyhood neighborhood on Detroit’s near north side, recounting how everyday life became transfixed and transformed when Aretha, even as an eleven- or twelve-year-old child, would start to sing. Ron had long since gone to join the ancestors, and I was unable to find anyone who might know if that beautiful prose poem were in print or where it might be—but this week I found it, at last, in this video interview that I conducted in 2003 of Ron Milner, as part of the “Oral Histories of Detroit Arts Legends” project at the Michigan Opera Theatre. I had given away the old VCR tape of the interview, but was able to retrieve it in digital form, thanks to filmmaker Brian Heath, and enjoy Ron Milner’s vibrant presence again. Several years before this interview, Ron brought his savvy and style and passion to several playwriting projects with students from Central High School and Longfellow Middle School as a guest artist with InsideOut Literary Arts Project. It was a privilege to know him, and I was honored and humbled when Karen DiChiera invited me to conduct this interview. I will be ever grateful to have worked with such an indelible, creative human being.
EDUCATOR | POET | TEACHER
