The Detroit Shoemaker
by Barbara Reaume Sandre
Edmond Gagnon‘s review
Aug 28, 2025
This book took me completely by surprise. Not usually a genre I read, I was quickly consumed by the story of a French family who emigrated from France, settled in Montreal, and then helped to establish the cities of Detroit and Windsor.
The author’s research is extensive and meticulous, tracing her family’s roots back several generations.
The story delves into Canada’s fur trade and French migration south along the St. Lawrence Seaway to the birth of Detroit, in the form of Fort Pontchartrain.
The level of survival skills and determination of our pioneering ancestors is nothing short of amazing.
Every local history buff should snag a copy of this book.
It seems Cathryn and I don’t get out for dinner as much these days, mostly because we like to cook, and that we expect good food and service for the price we pay. We’ve also been slacking in visits across the border to Detroit, where exciting things have been happening in the restaurant and entertainment scene.
Maybe you’ve heard the rumors on Entertainment Tonight, Ellen, or WKRP in Cincinatti. Perhaps you only dreamed and hoped it was true. You’ve probably been wondering what Edmond Gagnon has been up to (besides travelling) and where the heck has Norm Strom been.
Let’s start with vacation vs. travel. To those inexperienced in the latter, as opposed to the former, you’ll completely understand. Others may think the two getaways are the same, but they are quite different. Vacations tend to be those one-week jaunts to somewhere warm, where you can relax and forget all about work or whatever other crap life throws at you on a daily basis.
“After the great fire of 1805 which destroyed most of Detroit, Judge Woodward was appointed to oversee the city’s rebuild plan to lay out the streets, squares and lots with the assistance of the best surveyors from Canada. They placed their instruments and astronomical devices on the summit of a huge stone from which they viewed the planets and meteors in order to determine “true North.” Today, we still call this the “Point of Origin,” which is located in center of Campus Martius at the junction of Woodward and Monroe. It is from this point that the City of Detroit’s coordinate system was created.
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