When my father was seventeen years old he came to Detroit from Venezuela to attend what was then called the University of Detroit. At the age of twenty-one he met my mother, who was raised in Redford, a suburb of the city. After five weeks of courtship they married and, a few years later, left the United States. My sister and I were raised on the stories they and our grandparents would tell of their lives and times in Detroit. Some were heartbreaking: My father and grandmother’s recollections of the 1967 riots, for example, were vivid. Some were not: My grandmother never ran out of funny stories about my grandfather’s time as a Detroit police officer and her days as a rebellious teenager growing up in the city.
When I was twelve years old our family moved back to the Metro Detroit area. From the moment we first flew over the city I was fascinated. Every few weeks for years, my sister and I would accompany our father and his uncle to University of Detroit Mercy basketball games. This city wears its history beautifully and heartbreakingly, and I never tired of seeking out tiny details of that history carved into her landscape.
While here I’ve heard so many horror stories, heard people tell how they would never set foot in the city again, heard the stories the rest of the country relied on to paint a picture of this place. However, there are also countless people here who tell stories of hope and resilience, of a refusal to give up, and of love. Growing up, I’ve watched the changing face of this city. In this moment, Detroit exists in the center of complex issues; so much of Detroit’s story could be told, and I have a deep love for this city which informed my desire to tell a story that takes place here.
At its heart, Idlewild is the story of two men falling in love. Set behind them is a city they both believe in and love, though understanding her story very differently. There is no easy way to do justice to this city’s history—one whose story goes much deeper than the 1967 riots—or the complexity of issues it now faces. Detroit’s recent history runs much deeper than this story could do justice to, although it informs so much of this book. Writing this was a huge labor of love, and in the process of doing so, I read many excellent books about the city. If you are interested in checking any of them out, I’ve provided a reading list at the end of this book, and on my website, judesierra.com.