DEFIANCE, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Not many can forget Detroit back in the 1960s: the "Tac Squads" of elite four-man units harassing the streets, the racisms, the urban unrest, the brutality. Epitomizing that grim decade is the riot that began on Twelfth and Clairmount Avenue back in 1967 that lasted five days, received national attention and left around forty three people dead. Published author Alton J. Myers gives you an eyewitness account on the bizarre events of those five days through his compelling historical fiction novel, Sizzlin' Summer Surprise.
On July 23, 1967, Detroit police officers executing a "blind pig" raid on an after-hours drinking club in a predominantly black neighborhood on Twelfth and Clarimount Avenue were expecting to round up a few questionable patrons but were shocked when they found the place packed (it was learned that the establishment was hosting a huge party for two local Vietnam War veterans). The police decided to arrest everyone present, an attempt that got out of hand, was misunderstood, and then snowballed into a riot that spread through the city and went on for five days causing the National Guard and 82nd Airborne to be mobilized as police and military sought to restore in the city. The riot left 43 people dead, 1,189 injured, and 7,000 people arrested.
Sizzlin' Summer Surprise follows a teacher, who was doing graduate study, deep in the midst of the riot's events as the city breaks into violence and unrest. As the riot progresses through the city, the teacher sees how the lives and the livelihoods of many people change as the city erupts in a social meltdown. Raw emotions and events are captured in the pages of this remarkable book. Readers will get a sharp understanding on how society can quickly change by its members-the people. Vivid, truthful, and unreserved, this book is a good analysis on the discrimination that continues to corrupt society today. To purchase a copy of Alton J. Myers' Sizzlin' Summer Surprise, visit Xlibris.com, Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Borders.com or visit your local bookstore today.
About the Author
Alton Myers is a retired minister and teacher who experienced the Detroit riot as a graduate student living there in the summer of 1967. He has written a book of historical fiction, Calico Dance, and now presents readers another opportunity to explore historical fiction through the events of 1967. The author finds fiction a good way to tell his stories about life and the changes it brings into the lives of people who live the times. He has attended a number of universities, having been a science and mathematics teacher before becoming a minister and an author.
Sizzlin' Summer Surprise * by Alton J. Myers
Publication Date: December 13, 2005
Trade Paperback; $20.99; 116 pages; 1-4134-9920-1
Cloth Hardback; $30.99; 116 pages; 1-4134-9921-X
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