OCTOBER 27 • 2022 | 53
I
n 1970, when he was 20 years old,
Howard Hertz hitchhiked from
Detroit to New York. He bought a
one-way ticket on a charter flight to
London, where he bought a motorcycle.
For the next six months, he
traveled throughout Europe,
North Africa and Israel —
always with a harmonica
in his pocket. To this day,
Hertz never leaves home
without his harmonica.
Whether it’s in his car,
briefcase or backpack, he’s always got one
with him because, as the noted musician
and attorney says, “You just never know.”
You also just never know when
you’re going to be awarded the Lifetime
Achievement Award as a “Champion
for Artistic Freedom” by the Cultural
Council of Birmingham Bloomfield. On
Oct. 14, at the Birmingham Bloomfield
Art Center, Hertz received the special
award for his decades-long service to
countless nonprofits and underserved
and up-and-coming musicians. Hertz
has dedicated his life to providing pro
bono legal and management expertise to
individuals and arts organizations.
“Getting an award from the
community that I have had a private
practice in since 1979 makes me feel
appreciated for the hard work that I’ve
put in,” says Hertz, the lead attorney
for Hertz Schram’s Entertainment and
Intellectual Property Practice Groups in
Bloomfield Hills and Detroit.
“I hope that doesn’t mean that I’m
old,” Hertz laughs. “When you get a
Lifetime Achievement Award, you think
it’s the end of your career, which it’s not.
I’m more involved now than I have ever
been.”
So much so that Hertz, who is a board
member with the Sphinx Organization
for the past 10 years, missed the 25th
Anniversary Concert and Gala at
Carnegie Hall in New York because it fell
on Oct. 13, the day before his Lifetime
Achievement Award presentation in
Birmingham.
AN IMPRESSIVE CLIENT ROSTER
Hertz’s extensive celebrity client roster
ARTS&LIFE
AWARD
continued on page 54
Howard
Hertz
Howard Hertz receives lifetime
achievement award.
JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Champion For
Artistic
Freedom
Wendy Hertz titled
her oil painting of her
husband, Howard,
“Papa Blues.” It was an
official entry in the 2018
ArtPrize competition.