Detroit, MI
A newspaper seller with a giving nature is David Woods’ legacy
Angelette Green has sold newspapers in Detroit for many years. But lately the news she has shared has focused on one person, the late David Woods, who sold papers for Woods at an iconic location.
The story of the late David Woods lives on through Angelette Green
Angelette Green says the late David Woods was a dependable hawker of the Sunday Detroit Free Press and a dear friend who always delivered.
In today’s world, where most Americans and people around the globe get their news from digital devices, Detroiter Angelette Green represents something much different.
And in the process, she’s providing living proof that old school printed newspapers still have a dedicated audience.
On most weekdays, often during odd hours, while working for an independent contractor, Green plays an important role in making printed newspapers — including the Detroit Free Press — available in the Detroit market by delivering papers to area gas stations and other businesses that sell the papers.
Then on Sundays, Green can be found outdoors across the Detroit area, at newsstands that primarily sell the Sunday Free Press, which each have “hawkers” (salespeople) that work for Green, who drives her team members to their locations in a van.
Green provides chairs for her hawkers at each newsstand, but says sitting is not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to selling Sunday newspapers.
“If I come by and see one of my people just sitting, I’ll say: ‘If I was a lion, huntin’, I wouldn’t miss my meal, because you’re not moving,” stated Green, a 1974 Mackenzie High School graduate who worked in the electronics department for Texas Instruments in two Texas towns for 19 years before returning to Detroit in 2002, which set the stage for her newspaper journey.
Green continued: “Mostly, people work for the tips. I pay them, but they make more money with the tips, especially if you’ve been at a spot for a long time. That’s why you need to move around so the people can see you.”
But it’s what (or rather, who) folks didn’t see Sunday, May 24, on the corner of Seven Mile Road and Livernois, in the heart of the Avenue of Fashion, that had folks talking.
David Woods, the gentle giant hawker who worked for Green, stood watch over the newsstand on that corner for years. He died May 13 at the age of 37.
“Dave was a giving person and a quality human being,” Green said fondly of her friend, who became a part of her Sunday newspaper hawking team around 2009 and later became a familiar face and presence for drivers, bikers and pedestrians alike. “Dave didn’t wave the papers around, but he built up a clientele here on this corner because customers always knew that he would be here — through rain, sleet, snow and any other kind of weather.
“We could always count on Dave every Sunday. And he was the same way when it came to his family and friends. Dave’s mother passed when he was 14 and he was kind of incorporated into another family. Dave became like a father figure to the younger children, and when that mother passed, Dave stepped all the way up for the younger kids. He was just an awesome man and I’m going to miss the heck out of him — Dave, Dave, Dave.”
Green’s respect for Woods drove her to take on yet another responsibility on May 24 as she stood in for Woods at the newsstand, informing everyone she knew with a connection to Woods about his funeral service, which was scheduled to take place on May 27 at the Hutchinson Funeral Home in Detroit.
In one instance, the person Green informed was as close to Woods as she was.
“Big Dave was like family and we were cool from Day 1,” Green’s brother, Orlando, recalled about the impression Woods made on him, his sister and their late father David Green, when Woods joined the Green’s family newspaper business.
“Big Dave was just a loyal, cool, giving, gentle giant. The people loved Big Dave. And once he settled in at Seven Mile and Livernois, nothing bad ever happened at that corner.”
It was at that corner, which decades ago was the home to two former anchor businesses on the Avenue of Fashion — Revco drugstore and B. Siegel Department Store — where a Detroiter, who wished to be known only as Dexter F., learned from Angelette Green that Woods had died.
“I met Dave about seven or eight years ago, right at this corner, as he was giving out papers and he received me,” said Dexter F., whose Detroit Tigers cap featured a miniature Dexter Avenue street sign attached to it. “Dave was a giver, a good spirit and a love spirit. And I’m going to miss him.”
As Dexter F. spoke during the morning of May 24, the voice of Misty Taylor could be heard in the background when drivers made quick stops at the corner to purchase newspapers.
Taylor said she was more than happy to give her cousin, Angelette Green, a hand with selling papers. And when the traffic near the corner became less busy, Taylor also was happy to share her thoughts about Woods.
“I’ve been around David several times through the years dealing with these papers and he was a wonderful, spiritual young man,” the 64-year-old Taylor recalled. “He was warm at heart with an intelligent mind. David was just an outward good person.
“I’m happy to come back and fill in, but he will be missed.”
Later in the morning, Taylor was in need of a restroom break, so she borrowed some of the goodwill that Woods had established somewhat recently with Lily’s & Elise Tea House, at 19037 Livernois, where retired Detroit fireman and Vietnam Navy veteran John Miller would bring water out to Woods on Sundays when Miller was helping out at his granddaughter’s business.
Those who knew Woods well say it was only fitting that Miller helped to take care of Woods’ hydration needs on Sundays because giving was something that Woods specialized in — particularly away from his appointed newsstand.
“When it came to taking care of people with food, Dave always came through,” said Ron Goss, who sells Sunday newspapers at the corner of Curtis and Myers in northwest Detroit and also is Woods’ cousin. “Even if there wasn’t enough food to make an extra plate for someone, he would find enough.”
Like Goss, Detroiter Tiara Boyette had a longtime relationship with Woods that spanned more than 20 years. During that time, Woods no doubt shared his food with Boyette on many occasions. But on Memorial Day evening, Boyette wanted to talk about another form of nourishment that Woods, a proud father of two, provided.
“Though we did not share blood, we shared a bond built on love, loyalty, and years of memories that I will cherish forever,” Boyette said. “David was someone who protected the people he loved, showed up when it mattered, and made those around him feel cared for.
“Losing him has been heartbreaking, especially knowing there were still so many plans, conversations, and moments ahead of us that will never come. I will always be grateful for the time we shared and for the love he gave so freely. David will forever hold a special place in my heart and will never be forgotten.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.
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DETROIT (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez struck out seven in seven innings, Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto doubled and the Philadelphia Phillies ended the Detroit Tigers’ six-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday night.
The Phillies are 45-25 since snapping a 10-game losing streak April 25 and have the second-highest winning percentage in that span.
Sánchez (11-4) allowed two runs on 10 hits, bouncing back from a career-worst outing against Kansas City. Jonathan Bowlan threw a hitless eighth, and Jhoan Duran had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save.
Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly got the Phillies on the board in the third inning. Derek Hill prevented Zach McKinstry from driving in the tying run with a spectacular diving catch.
Realmuto had a two-run double in the fourth to extend the lead.
The Tigers got one back on Eduardo Valencia’s solo homer in the fifth.
Casey Mize (4-6) worked 5 2/3 innings for Detroit.
Up next
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (9-1, 2.28 ERA) was set to face Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (5-4, 3.06) on Sunday.
A woman died, and a person is in custody, in the aftermath of a two-vehicle crash on Friday evening in Detroit.
An emergency call was placed at 7:39 p.m., reporting the crash at Collingwood and Belleterre streets. The Detroit Police Department said one of the drivers was traveling at a high rate of speed on Collingwood and disregarded a stop sign at the intersection, striking the other vehicle.
The crash killed a woman who is in her 40s and injured a man who is also in his 40s. A medical condition was not available for the injured man.
The Detroit Police Department said a suspect is in custody and they are continuing to investigate.
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