Where are Michigan's leaders? by Colleen SteinmanEveryone talks about the splendor of Michigan, its woods, its water, its wild places and its wow! But Michigan's history is about people - strong individuals who saw through politics and adversity to make their vision a reality.

Consider P.J. Hoffmaster, who once dreamed of a state park system that showcased the best and most wild places for everyone to enjoy. He was the very first state park director and later one of the longest serving DNR directors. He died on the job, still working to secure Michigan's natural heritage.

Consider David Steinman, the engineer who designed and put up a great deal of his own money to create the Mackinaw Bridge. One man, who wasn't even a Michigan native, dreamed of a bridge that would unite two peninsulas to make one state.

Consider Genevieve Gillette, a woman who scouted land and park locations for her friend P.J. Hoffmaster. Gillette led the drive to create the Motor Vehicle Permit which provided needed funding for Michigan's state park system. It took a woman of remarkable creativity to link together the great outdoors and vacation getaways with the auto industry that drove Michigan's economy.

Consider the innovators who developed Michigan's economy and led innovation in the work world: Ephraim Shay envisioned a better way to move logs out of Michigan's woods and created miles and miles of railroad with his Shay Locomotives. Henry Ford who wanted a faster, better way to build automobiles.

For all these famous people, there are the people who labored in obscurity. There is my paternal grandmother, a shy English girl who married a brash American GI who wanted to borrow her bicycle. She came to Michigan in 1946 after sailing into New York City aboard the very first bride ship that carried British women to their husbands in the United States. She brought her infant son, the first of seven children she raised here on a farm that did not have electricity until the 1960s.

My maternal grandmother divorced three men and raised five daughters while working as a secretary at a major chemical company during the 1950s through the 1970s. At 5-foot-zip in her high-heels, her motto was simple: "I may be little, but I'm powerful!"

There is my father. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college; Michigan State University's famed land-grant institution. He dreamed of being a DNR fisheries biologist, but ended up teaching for 32 years, sharing his love of Michigan's outdoors and its fast natural resources with thousands of young people.

There's my mother, who passed out working the afternoon shift at a factory in temperatures above 110-degrees. She organized the workers, who demanded large fans to help cool the shop floor. They won the fans and then brought in a union to help negotiate better working conditions for all shifts.

There is my sister, a single mom struggling with Michigan's changing economy. My brother spends his days guarding Michigan's prisoners, praying every night that he can make it home to see his wife and his young son.

I am a daughter of Michigan. It is my home and my heritage. I came of age in state forest campgrounds, fishing bass and exploring wooded trails. I've been educated here, created a career here, married and raised a son here.

Michigan's greatest loss has been its people, the industrious, inspired, strong leaders who envision a better future and did what it took to make that future a reality. Where are the Shays, the Fords, the Hoffmasters, the Gillettes of today? Who will emerge to lead the new Michigan? Who among us will be remembered tomorrow for their courage, vision and leadership today?