Author David Tarver and first customer Earl Howard

Earl Howard, fresh from his winter hiatus in the South, takes delivery of Proving Ground copy #1.  Earl paid for his copy back in December, before we were even taking orders, just to support his fellow U-M College of Engineering alum.  Earl supported the book in another way — he took the picture that graces the beginning of section 2 (Ann Arbor) 37 years ago!  We both had MUCH more hair back then.  After Earl paid for his book we spent the proceeds at the neighborhood Happy Hour.  Good times!

The new Proving Ground FAQs page will answer all your questions about the book, and then some!

Thank you!

Proving Ground started shipping today, two weeks ahead of schedule!  To everyone who ordered the special edition, thank you!  I appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy reading it.  I may have a hand cramp from signing 500 books yesterday, but it was well worth the effort!

As I said in a previous e-mail, you are receiving a signed advance edition of the book, offered first to friends, family and colleagues.  Proving Ground will also be available this summer in bookstores and at online sites like Amazon.com  and BarnesandNoble.com.  It will also be available for Kindle, Nook, and Apple iPad/iPhone.  We will notify you via e-mail when Proving Ground is released to these sources, and would appreciate very much if you would go online and post a positive comment at that time.  This will be a great help in introducing the book to a wider audience.

Thanks again!  I can’t wait to hear what you think of the book.

And one more thing:  please keep spreading the word and encouraging people to visit www.provinggroundbook.com.  Proving Ground makes a great graduation gift!

David

Thanks to all of you who participated in our unscientific survey.  As a reminder, this was the question I posed:

In the 1950s, cities like Flint and Detroit were THE places to be.  Though these cities are struggling to regain their form, they have lost as much as half of their population and are economically depressed.  What was the primary factor in the economic decline of Flint?

The survey was e-mailed to nearly 400 people, and responses were received from 92 people.  Here are the results, in terms of the percentage ranking of each answer.

As you can see, the factor most often cited was “globalization,” followed by “poor management,” “white flight/racism,” “labor unions,” and lastly, “crime.”  Note that I didn’t provide an “all of the above” choice, because I wanted people to indicate what they thought was the primary factor in Flint’s decline.

Thanks again for your participation.  This definitely gives me some food for thought as I prepare for my April 13 presentation at Mott Community College.

David

On April 13, I’ll be the keynote speaker at the Ballenger Eminent Persons Lecture Series.  I’m going to be talking about A) how what I learned growing up in Flint powered my career as a tech entrepreneur and community activist, and B) how what I learned during my career can help power Flint entrepreneurs and activists.  I’m looking forward to lecturing and learning, and I’m expecting to see all my Flintstone peeps FRONT and CENTER!  In addition to the lecture, I’ll be presenting one of the afternoon workshops, and signing copies of my new book, Proving Ground.  Look forward to seeing you there!  See the flyer (below), and see the event calendar on this site for details and directions:

Hearing the tragic case of Trayvon Martin today, I was reminded of my own “walking while black” incident in New Jersey some years ago.  If you’re not a black man, it can be hard to realize how common and how humiliating this sort of thing is.  Racial division and fear have torn apart our cities.  We’ve got to get past it.

The following is a brief excerpt from my memoir Proving Ground (copyright (c) 2012, W. David Tarver): Continue reading …