I Arts & Entertainment
ON TEE BOOKSHELF
Detroit's Main Drag
In a new book, former Jewish News reporter
co-authors historic look at Woodward Avenue.
Sharon Luckerman: "We wanted
to be very inclusive as we cov-
ered different subjects."
Suzanne Chesser
Special to the Jewish News
S
haron Luckerman, driv-
ing cross-country from
the West Coast in a -
Plymouth, cruised into Michigan
Archival photos fill Cruisin' the
Original Woodward Avenue.
25 years ago. She decided to stay
and joined the car culture, succes-
sively owning a Dodge, Chevrolet,
Honda and Toyota.
Luckerman, who traversed
the area while building a writing
career, doesn't particularly like
being in large crowds, but she set
that feeling aside last year to watch
her first Woodward Dream Cruise.
She speaks about being impressed
with the array of vintage vehicles
parading from Detroit to the
northern suburbs and the mix of
people representing different age
groups.
When the 12th Dream Cruise
fills Woodward Avenue from
Ferndale to Pontiac on Saturday,
Aug. 19, Luckerman will be there
with a new and very relevant
outlook. She learned lots of infor-
mation gathered as co-author of
the just-released Cruisin' the
Original Woodward Avenue
(Arcadia Publishing; $19.99), a
photo book that recalls the history
of this central thoroughfare.
"Anthony Ambrogio, a freelance
writer, was asked to work on this
project by the Woodward Heritage
Team, and he asked me to work
with him',' says Luckerman, 58, a
development officer for the Wayne
Drive-ins proliferated, catering to the new crowds. By the
1950s, Ted's in Bloomfield Hills was one of Woodward Avenue's
most popular destinations.
State University School of Business
Administration and former report-
er for the Detroit Jewish News.
"I searched library archives
to find the photos, went to car
museums for information and
interviewed driving enthusiasts,
from engineers to car club mem-
bers. The materials started as quite
a hodgepodge, but they soon came
together."
The book is divided into eight
chapters to capture the start of the
auto industry, growth of factories
and dealerships, the first teen
cruisers and their destinations and
the legacy of the times recalled.
Pictures show the Ford family, the
Chrysler family and the stalwarts
at General Motors as well as popu-
lar cars that could be restored for
cruising.
"This project has been very
poignant for me because of
learning all the history and meet-
ing all the people proud to be
Detroiters," says Luckerman, who
grew up in Chicago and earned a
bachelor's degree in English from
the University of Illinois and a
master's degree in creative writing
from Warren Wilson College in
North Carolina. "We wanted to be
very inclusive as we covered differ-
ent subjects:'
Luckerman, who uses her free
No Winners
Israeli
documentary
records Gaza
disengagement.
K.
Michael Fox
Special to the Jewish News
V
erite documentaries,
which capture events
as they unfold, offer a
visceral experience of a volatile
situation. They are valued for
their timeliness rather than their
historical perspective, which
means that breaking develop-
ments can date them in a hurry.
The shelf life for documen-•
48 August 10 • 2006
taries about the Middle East is
the briefest of all, unfortunately.
Nonetheless, it is well worth
catching the riveting Israeli film,
5 Days.
Director Yoav Shamir, in an
exemplary journalistic endeavor,
dispatched eight camera crews
to record the removal of Jewish
settlers from the Gaza Strip last
August. The strategy and prac-
tice of disengagement was the
hot topic in Israel until the war
against Hamas and Hezbollah
erupted last month. At the pres-
ent moment, 5 Days retains sub-
stantial interest for its insights
into the Israeli army. And,
political context aside, it is great
drama.
The feature-length doc pro-
vides a ground-level view of the
iN
potentially explosive showdown
between the army and the 8,000
settlers in Gush Katif and nearby
outpOsts. Surprisingly, given that
the film was sold for broadcast
overseas and has an English nar
ration, there's almost no explica-
tion of the political arguments
for and against disengagement.
That turns out to be a plus, for
debate is irrelevant in the heat
of the moment. The players can
only act and react.
The central figure is Maj. Gen.
Dan Harel, the white-haired,
white-bearded officer in charge
of the evacuation. "We carry the
heavy burden of democracy on
our backs:' he says; kindly but
firmly. "There are no winners."
Harel is well aware that he
has a tightrope to navigate. Any
Israeli soldiers move to evict Jewish settlers from their homes in
Yoav Shamir's 5 Days.
delay or sign of weakness by the
army will bolster the settlers,
but Jew-on-Jew violence would
be a catastrophe, inflaming the
passions surrounding an already
divisive issue.
From the standpoint of Israel's
image around the world, the
broadcast of such footage would,
at the least, be an embarrass-
ment. At worst, it would embold-
en its enemies.
The settlers try to cajole and
enlist the soldiers over to their
side, and when that doesn't work,
some resort to insults. A soldier