Literature · born 1958Mitch Albomauthor, newspaper columnist, radio host, philanthropistDetroit Free Press columnist since 1985 and author of Tuesdays with Morrie, whose charities have funded shelters, clinics and homes across Detroit.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 19 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
12 people
Clear filtersLiterature · born 1958Mitch Albomauthor, newspaper columnist, radio host, philanthropistDetroit Free Press columnist since 1985 and author of Tuesdays with Morrie, whose charities have funded shelters, clinics and homes across Detroit.
Literature · born 1951Bob Blackanarchist writerDetroit-born anarchist essayist best known for 'The Abolition of Work' (1985), who grew up in suburban Oak Park.
Literature · born 1956Katherine Applegatechildren's and young-adult authorNewbery Medal–winning author of The One and Only Ivan and creator of the Animorphs series, born in Ann Arbor on the western edge of the Detroit metropolitan region.
Literature · born 1955Geoffrey A. LandisNASA scientist, science-fiction writer, poetDetroit-born NASA engineer and Hugo and Nebula–winning hard science-fiction author who works on Mars rovers and solar power.
Theatre & dance · born 1956Ruben Santiago-Hudsonactor, playwright, directorTony-winning actor, playwright of Lackawanna Blues and August Wilson director, who earned his master's degree at Wayne State University, which later gave him an honorary doctorate.
Theatre & dance · 1950–2025Howard Butennovelist, clown, psychologistDetroit-born writer and clown 'Buffo', whose novel When I Was Five I Killed Myself sold over a million copies in France, where he also worked with autistic children.
Literature · born 1950Carolyn Forchépoet, translator, human-rights advocateDetroit-born poet of The Country Between Us and The Colonel, a leading voice of the 'poetry of witness', raised in a Slovak-American family in the Detroit suburbs.
Literature · born 1952Loren D. Estlemancrime and Western novelistMichigan crime writer whose Amos Walker private-eye novels and multi-volume Detroit series retell the city's 20th-century history through its underworld.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗