ShowsLarry Gustin
Journalist, Author January 20, 2021 Larry started out as a writer at Flint Central High School on the staff of The Arrowhead school newspaper. From there he moved on to the Flint Journal covering sports, and then the automobile business. In 1972 he published a series of articles about a man the city had forgotten about: William C. “Billy” Durant.
Durant, the founder of General Motors, Chevrolet, AC Spark Plug, Frigidaire, and the driving force and savior of Buick, Oldsmobile, and so many other companies was lost to the sands of time, as incredible as that may seem. Unbelievably, he’s still misrepresented today by nearly every single person who writes about him. But don’t blame Larry. He got Billy Durant right the first time, and every time. He went on to convert those fantastic articles in to an even better book, Billy Durant; Creator of General Motors. Larry would eventually leave the Flint Journal and move on to work for General Motors, leading the Buick Public Relations team. While there he wrote The Buick; A Complete History, and the biography of David Buick, David Buick’s Marvelous Motor Car. He’s a compendium of knowledge about Durant, Buick, and Flint’s pivotal role in the establishment of the American auto industry. Fish and Larry go back a long way, both Central grads, and both devoted Durant addicts, it makes for a lively and in-depth conversation about an important topic. |
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