Where
Are They
Now?
1979
Jack Faxon
JUDY GREENWALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Former
senator still
making an
impact.
A
fter more than 30 years
serving the citizens of
Michigan, former Sen.
Jack Faxon certainly could look
back on his life of public service
with pride and enjoy a well-
deserved retirement.
His political career has been
well-documented: a former
legislator, one of the last surviv-
ing delegates of the Michigan
Constitutional Convention,
elected to the Michigan House
of Representatives in 1964, a
member of the Appropriations
Committee for Education, com-
poser of the bill establishing the
Michigan Council for the Arts, to
name just a few highlights.
But the energetic, personable
Faxon has more than politics
to keep him active. He is an
avid art collector as well as an
artist in his own right, and his
Birmingham home is a true
showplace, with a priceless col-
lection of sculpture, paintings,
stained glass and oriental rugs,
ranging from ancient pieces to
modern works, including his
own. He even had his own art
exhibition in the State Capitol
back in 1965, which featured his
abstract paintings.
“I was always an artist, col-
lecting and creating it most of
my life, and feel very close to the
artwork in my home as an auto-
biographical statement,” Faxon
said with pride. “I put together
a gestalt environment of all the
arts so as to integrate cultures.
My art is inspired by things I see,
and my early works were based
on what I felt within. This con-
stitutes a unique environment.”
Different rooms represent dif-
ferent parts of the world, Faxon
explained, and he has combined,
with an expert eye, various
media in a multitude of shapes
and sizes for material and visual
integration, and personal enjoy-
ment.
But art is only one of Faxon’s
interests, and these different
avenues led to his varied career.
His parents came as adults from
Russia, and one of the things
they instilled in him was the
importance of education. In
1956, he became a teacher of
social studies at a Detroit mid-
dle school.
“I was either going to be a
rabbi or a teacher,” he joked,
“and even though my mother
came from an Orthodox back-
ground and I did go to Hebrew
school, I didn’t become a rabbi
because I didn’t go to yeshivah!”
A quote from Cicero carved in
stone on the outside of his home
somewhat belies his involve-
ment in education: “Life is ruled
by fortune, not knowledge.”
Faxon noted that his good
performance as a student and
precocious nature as a child
definitely enhanced his yearning
for knowledge and led him in
the direction of learning.
This connection with the aca-
demic world was expressed in
another outlet: his founding of
the International School in 1968.
“We began as the City School
of Detroit and had 37 stu-
dents enrolled in kindergarten
through third grade,” he said,
“and we were the first private
school with a foreign language
program in the U.S.”
The school moved to
Southfield in 1981, and, under
the continuing direction of
Faxon, its headmaster, is now
located in Farmington Hills and
continues to attract discerning
families.
Of the school, Faxon proudly
noted that the present student
body consists of children from
around the world who are
immersed in a curriculum that
promotes multilingual studies,
leading to increased cognitive
development.
“We believe that in our
increasingly global environment,
the quality of success will be
determined by one’s ability to
understand and communicate
with people from different cul-
tures. Our multicultural, multi-
ethnic environment looks ahead
to the world of tomorrow, and
we remain committed to foreign
language proficiency in an aca-
demic setting that stresses the
broad liberal arts as we advance
into the future.”
Another connection of future
to past is his lifelong love of the-
ater. He was a theater usher and
became an opera buff. He even
related how an encounter with
David DiChiera led to his help-
ing to name Michigan’s opera.
jn
“I was driving to Lansing with
David and we were talking about
how to get support for the opera
company,” he said. “And I said
to him: ‘Well, you know, David,
I’m sure we can get support,
but we should use Michigan in
the name — Michigan Opera
Theater. This way, everyone will
associate the opera with the
state. And that’s how MOT got
its name.”
Faxon said he loved attend-
ing performances at the Met
in New York and has been able
to translate that love into real
life by being on stage. He has
performed as a singer and
dancer in such venues as the
Ford Auditorium in Detroit
and off-Broadway at St. Marks
Theater in New York. He noted
with pride that one of his first
roles at MOT in the late 1970s
was Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’s
Die Fledermaus, and a recent
performance showcased him as
the godfather in The Nutcracker
ballet. His opening nights were
some of the most exciting of his
life, he noted.
His dancing, speaking engage-
ments and traveling from
Michigan to New York are cer-
tainly keeping this spry 81-year-
old on his toes. He still enjoys
reading, getting together with
former political colleagues, host-
ing artists and artistic perfor-
mances, and welcoming friends
to see his one-of-a-kind home. In
his own words, “I haven’t retired
from life just yet!” •
January 4 • 2018
21