Excerpt
andlt;Bandgt;1andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;WHEN HENRY MET SALLIE: CAR WARS AND CULTURE CLASHES AT THE DAWN OF AMERICAand#8217;S AUTOMOTIVE AGEandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Someone should write an erudite essay on the moral, physical, and esthetic effect of the Model T Ford on the American nation. Two generations of Americans knew more about the Ford coil than the clitoris, about the planetary system of gears than the solar system of stars.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8212;John Steinbeck, andlt;Iandgt;Cannery Rowandlt;/Iandgt;1andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Just north of downtown Detroit on a small street called Piquette sits an inner-city storefront church called the Abundant Faith Cathedral. By the looks of the surrounding weed-choked lots and empty factories, abundant faith is exactly whatand#8217;s needed, not to mention plenty of hope. The neighborhood is a postindustrial ghetto, although right across the street from the church is a functioning business called the General Linen andamp; Uniform Service. It occupies the first floor of an old building where, as unlikely as it seems, modern America began.