| .Welcome to Ken's Korner for Forward Lookers | |||
My articles on vehicles, auto racing & the industry have appeared in such diverse publications as: Motor Life |
Hi, my name is Ken Fermoyle and Forward Look has provided this space so I
can share memories of my involvement with automobiles, including the finned Exner-look
beauties of the 1950s, over some three decades. I was involved with and wrote about the
industry vehicles and auto racing for 30 years, from 1947 to 1976.
I'm a native Detroiter, born in Highland Park, about 3 miles from the Chrysler Highland Park plant (and 5 from the old Highland Park Ford plant). So I had close ties with the auto industry practically from birth. My father began working for Dodge Brothers in the early 1920s, as an assistant yardmaster in the freight yards of the Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck. He spent most of his working life there, retiring as Head Yardmaster in the 1960s. One of my uncles also worked there for many years also. Over the years, most of my friends and relatives worked in some phase of the auto industry. In the "old days" just about everything in the Motor City revolved around that industry. I got my first newspaper job, part-time, while a freshman at the University of Detroit in 1947 as a reporter/rewrite man on The Wage Earner, a labor paper sponsored by the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists in the 1930s to combat the Communist influence on unions that was prevalent then. I later worked for Ford as a reporter on The Rouge News and editor of the Research & Engineering Center News after that facility opened in 1952. So I saw both sides of the labor-management picture up close & personal. I also wrote speeches for Earle S. MacPherson, inventor of the MacPherson Strut front suspension, who was Ford VP-Enginnering in those days. He was a true gentleman as well as an outstanding engineer. During college I also spent one summer (1948) working at the Chrsyler Highland Park Plant and another (1949) at the Dodge Main Plant. (See Ken's Stories.) I also spent many hours interviewing workers at the Ford Rouge Plant in 1951-52, so I was thoroughly familiar with what it was like to be a blue-collar worker in the auto industry. I was the only auto writer I knew about during the '50s, '60s and '70s who ever really worked in an automobile factory. For more on my career, go to Ken's Stories; for personal and car-related photos, click Photo Album; for reminiscences and archive, click The Attic; for favorite links and current projects, click Links & More. I've kept the pages simple and straightforward, with no fancy design tricks, banners, music or animations to slow downloading. Hope you like the site. Send comments to Wordsmith Ken. NEW! Old Articles Page...Read '58 MoPar Report...NEW! This page was last updated on 01/20/04 Number of visits |
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