Contributors: November 2008

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Chuck BennettChuck Bennett

After studying fashion at Wayne State University, Bennett designed and constructed entire women’s collections, modeled for Saks Fifth Avenue, worked in retail, served as an image consultant in the entertainment industry, and received the LuLu Award for fashion reporting. In his current role as The Detroit News society columnist and host of Smooth Jazz (WVMV-FM) radio’s “Style Minute,” Bennett frequently mingles with local movers and shakers and fashionistas. From his vantage point, he says, “Detroit is very well respected in terms of fashion.” A case in point, he says, is that more alligator shoes are sold in Detroit than anywhere in the world. For this issue, Bennett selected 29 metro Detroiters for our first Best-Dressed list (page 86).

Joe Vaughn

Joe Vaughn

Vaughn’s photographs frequently grace the pages of Hour Detroit. In this issue, his images illustrate a wide range of topics, from product still lifes to food and fashion (including the cover). His work included two straight days of photographing 29 of metro Detroit’s best-dressed people. The experience was, he says, like “having the most interesting people for a party at my studio.” In observing the styles of his photographic subjects, Vaughn says the one he related to most was Kem, whose look he describes as “simple and classic.” Not surprisingly, given the number of high-profile people passing through his studio, Vaughn says, “It was a bit crazy during the shoot.” The fashion plates, he’s happy to report, exhibited grace and true appreciation for being named to the list.

Jim McFarlin

Jim McFarlin

McFarlin doesn’t like gossip, but he was happy to dish the dirt about Detroit’s madcap ’80s era of dueling “Carol T.” vs. “Yours Truly” newspaper gossip columns (page 48). “It’s a story I always wanted to write,” says McFarlin, a writer at The Detroit News himself during that period. “Those were crazy days, and I knew all the major players. Tom Schoenith swears “Yours Truly” writers regularly went through his garbage at The Roostertail. “[Writer] Matt Beer once told me a chunk of concrete fell on his car as he was leaving a parking structure,” Schoenith says. “I told him, ‘Matt, if anybody saw you get in the car, that was no accident.’ ” McFarlin separates fact from rumor as a freelancer  for publications across the country.

Pat Kinsella

Pat Kinsella

As a child, Kinsella was “that kid,” the one who never paid enough attention in school. “[I was] wasting all my time drawing and reading comic books instead of doing homework,” he says. Fortunately, he adds, that early unorthodox approach seems to be paying off. Since graduating in 2007 from Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pa., Kinsella has worked as an illustrator in Philadelphia. His illustration accompanies a story on home invasions by rats (page 52). “I really liked the idea of rats being all over the place,” he says. “I wanted to make an image of something you might not expect to see.” Kinsella’s work has appeared in Business Week, Folio, and The Pennsylvania Gazette.