Norman Sinclair, Author at DBusiness Magazine

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front line During the Civil War, women helped care for injured soldiers, as depicted in “Our Women and the War,” a wood engraving by Winslow Homer (1862). Clarissa Britain, who lived in Michigan at the time, took a different path by creating an “improved ambulance,” for which she received a U.S. patent. She also developed other inventions and was awarded seven patents overall. // Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Civil Lady

Norman Sinclair - August 11, 2022

Historians of the Civil War era wouldn’t have been surprised if they had discovered that Michigan’s 19th century inventor, Clarissa Britain, was a spy for either the North or the South, given her ability...

Tin Cup

Norman Sinclair - July 4, 2022

The improbable life story of one of Detroit’s most notable inventors, Elijah J. McCoy, seems as unbelievable as most Hollywood movie scripts. A Black man, the son of American slaves, he was born in...

Eagle's Nest - For approach shots on the 10th hole at the Fazio Premier Golf Course at Treetops in Gaylord, it’s often best to aim for the left side of the green. // Courtesy of Treetops

Fore Play

Norman Sinclair - June 27, 2022

With two years of pandemic restrictions in the rearview mirror, Michigan’s golf and tourism industries are primed to build on last summer’s growth, which was fueled by pent-up demand from travelers who hit the...

back and forth In 1962, when Robert Kearns began working on intermittent windshield wipers, he and his wife and four children lived at the north end of Detroit. Kearns earned his Ph.D. at Case Western University in Cleveland. He received a patent for his wiper design in 1975. // Courtesy of Getty Images

Side Swipe – Keeping Windshields Dry

Norman Sinclair - May 16, 2022

On his wedding night in a romantic country inn in Ontario, Canada, a Detroiter named Robert Kearns suffered a most untimely and improbable injury. A decade later, that injury inspired his invention of a device...

Judge and Prosecutor

Norman Sinclair - March 16, 2022

The life and career of one of the great crime fighters in Detroit history, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Homer S. Ferguson, whose name and grand jury became synonymous in the 1940s, is the...

Inside Out

Norman Sinclair - March 14, 2022

Nearly six years after former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the first round of criminal charges against state and city officials involved in the Flint water contamination crisis, none of the 15...

chart topper Alex O’Neill went from learning to write and record songs in his parent’s basement in Grosse Pointe to landing a record contract and performing at sold-out concerts. // Courtesy of Angelina Golt

Kings of Summer

Norman Sinclair - February 4, 2022

Alex O’Neill’s transformation from a student at Grosse Pointe South High School experimenting with electronic music in the basement of his parents’ home into Ayokay (A-OK), a Gold Record singer-songwriter-producer, began at the age...

Short on Reform

Norman Sinclair - December 28, 2021

On a Thursday afternoon in May 2019, on the porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, flanked by leaders of the Michigan House and Senate, signed what she touted as...

Protecting Data

Norman Sinclair - October 18, 2021

In a recent interview discussing last year’s massive SolarWinds hack of multiple government agencies and major corporations, Phil Abraham, a cybersecurity and technology expert from Northville, warned that America’s infrastructure, public and private, was...

In Vino Veritas - Michigan’s wine industry has been expanding, with 3,375 wine grape acres, up 10 percent from 2016. // Courtesy of Mawby Vineyards

Rosé Revenue

Norman Sinclair - July 5, 2021

The 2021 summer tourist season got off to a flying start this past winter at the Mawby Vineyard and Winery in Suttons Bay on the Leelanau Peninsula. Mike Laing, who with his brother, Peter,...