Loose Tea

. . . Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.

At the Franklin Covey seminar a few years ago, this and other adages of Poor Richard were trucked out as a lesson for our group to "manage our time more effectively."

The indoctrinated presenter, of course, carried these sayings further to a historically inaccurate version of Benjamin Franklin. Sad to say, in almost every case she cited about old Ben, she was wrong.

I remember that in effect she said that Benjamin Franklin practiced what he preached when trying to make a buck with his printing press. At the time, I'd also read Walter Isaacson's wonderful biography on Franklin, "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life." In it Isaacson outlines how Ben tried to keep to his preachings for a time but then went back to his more merry routine, one where early to bed and early rising did not come into the equation, at all.

Such is the value of historians like Isaacson or our local historian, Mr. Mann. These are people interested in preserving human lives and places in an authentic manner. This is one of the things I love so about Mr. Mann's Ann Arbor News columns or the stories he shares in all kinds of other places. He does not add a coat of nostalgic, good old days varnish. Instead, he tries to present the truth with all of its odd shades of nuance.

This is, of course, exactly what Ypsilanti needs. Not a return to the good ole days of prosperity; but a steady look at where we've been as we set our eyes on the future.