It is not often that a 30-page thesis blossoms into a
235-page book, but Charles Avison stuck to his instincts, and in the
end, it may lead to even bigger things in his future.
Avison has authored and published the book, "Detroit City of
Champions."
It was a footnote in Detroit Tiger history that started the ball
rolling.
In 2003, Avison was a student at Western Michigan University. One
day, while going through a Tigers' media guide with friends, he came
across an interesting note. It turned out that 1935 was a
significant year in Detroit sports history. That year, the Tigers,
Lions and Red Wings all claimed their first-ever team championships.
That little known fact gave Avison an idea for a thesis paper for
his sports history class. He submitted his thesis, but the book that
was to come was still off in the distance.
Avison graduated from Western with a bachelor's degree in liberal
history. He then went on to study at the University of Edinburgh in
Scotland. While overseas, he came up with the first of many ideas of
how he might make a living.
The first was a personal line of Scottish ghillie shirts, which
are long sleeve, tie-up v-neck shirts worn throughout Europe. He
even went so far as to create prototypes, but the idea faded as he
worked as a brick carrier and learned about the publishing
industry.<
P> When
he returned from "livin' and lovin'" in Scotland in October 2006,
the idea of the "Champions" book came up again and he went to work
on its research.
"There was a ton of stuff on the Tigers and Red Wings, but very
little about the Lions, Avison said. "It was hard to find certain
things and at the same time give equal coverage to all of them."
He would hitch a ride from Marysville to Detroit every morning
with his father, John Howell ,and wait for the Detroit Public
Library to open. He worked for five hours each day combing through
old Detroit Times, Kalamazoo Gazette and Detroit Evening Times
articles, as well as looking through microfilm.
"At times it was quite overwhelming. I learned that organization
was the only thing that was going to save me," he said. "My family
really carried me."
Out of his research into the Detroit teams, an individual began
to stand out: Joe Louis.
He came into the year 12-0 and would fight 14 times in 1935,
beating Primo Carnera and Max Baer in his two biggest fights. The
Associated Press named the "Brown Bomber" Outstanding Athlete of the
Year.
"To leave Louis out of something like this would have been a
shame," Avison said. "He was larger than life, but put his own
desires aside for the betterment of the community."
It was a remarkable year for the Detroit teams.
The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs in six games to claim
their first World Series and the Lions knocked off the New York
Giants 26-7 at University of Detroit Stadium for the NFL
Championship. And, the Red Wings began their season in 1935, and
completed it by hoisting their First Stanley Cup by beating the
Toronto Maple Leafs in April of 1936.
Avison also learned that Detroit natives Gar Wood, Eddie Tolan
and Dick Degener also made their mark that year along with the
Stroh's bowling team. Even the 1935 World Champion Checkers player
was from Detroit, but the focus remains on the three teams and
Louis.
Avison got help from his brothers, Curtis and Cameron, throughout
2007, on different areas during the development of the book.
Cameron helped out with the legwork while Curtis took time out of
his work as a nightclub DJ and marketing director to work on the
layout, graphics and cover.
"If it was not for them, I am not sure I could have ever gotten
this far," he said of his support staff, which also included his
mother, Charlotte Howell.
Avison said he pushed his brother to his creative limits during
the project. With no formal training, Curtis was forced to learn as
he went, but was helped by the singular vision that his brother had
in mind.
"He knew exactly what he wanted when it came to the layout of the
book," Curtis said. "He did not just throw something at me and
expect me to figure it out; he knew where he was going and I just
had to find how to get there."
Avison also had two things working against him throughout the
process: money and his own mind.
Even having the knowledge that you need to be organized cannot
slow down a mind that works as fast as his does.
"Believing I could to it was a daily struggle, especially when it
takes an entire day to verify one statistic or three months to get
permission to use one picture," the 30-year old said.
The other hurdle was, of course, money. Since he was devoting all
of his time to the book, he was not able to even hold down a
part-time job during 2007. He acknowledges he has been "extremely
lucky" for the number of people that have helped fund his dream.
"He really had a passion for this story. You could tell he really
wanted to do it right," Curtis said.
Once the work on the book was finished, he began with a
promotional budget of $12. So far, 700 of the 2,000 books printed
have been sold with Avison hand delivering many of them himself. He
has been to trade shows, bookstores and has tried to work with the
Tiger Stadium Conservancy project to get his product out to the
public.
He will be signing and selling copies Saturday and Sunday at
Gilbralter Trade Center in Mount Clemens.
"I think he can easily sell $100,000 worth of books," Curtis
said. "It has a mass market appeal and it is like a sports corollary
now with the Lions."
Even with all of this swirling around him, Avison has started his
own publishing company. Diomedea Publishing, a nod to the Trojan
War, a subject that Avison is also passionate about, is a place he
hopes to cultivate new talent in the future.
"It is not just about putting out my own material," Avison said.
"There are things I still want to do, but there is also a lot of
undiscovered talent out there and I hope they come here to get a
start."
Avison points to the fact that having no formal knowledge of the
publishing industry has actually been one of his greatest assets,
allowing him to "think outside the box" as a catalyst for many of
his ideas and work habits.
Avison still lives in Marysville, but hopes to open an office in
Detroit this year as well as launch the book in bigger stores. But
money still remains an issue.
"Right now success for me is being able to pay my staff," he
said.
Curtis knows it was a long road for his brother, but the results
speak for themselves.
"He made something that we were skeptical about at first, but now
we are all proud of what he has done," he said.
Meanwhile, Avison is still looking to write a book on the Trojan
War or the demise of the Detroit Times, or even a hard cover version
of "Champions" with more information and pictures he is still
discovering. His days of fighting the odds to get a book to the
shelves are not over yet.
Contact Matthew Fahr at (586) 716-8100, ext. 300 or
matt.fahr@voicenews.com.
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