Emily Gail — the unstoppable Motor City cheerleader who helped start the still-popular “Say Nice Things About Detroit” movement four decades ago — is coming home.
The well-known businesswoman, sports enthusiast and ardent champion for Detroit has been living in Hawaii for the past 30-plus years. This week, she told me it was time: “I’m moving back to Detroit!”
She might start with a home base as she keeps one foot in Hawaii during the transition. She hopes to get here by spring or summer 2025. As anyone moving after 30 years knows, there’s a lot of purging and curating to do as she has held onto decades of things she has collected, including press clippings and videos of things she did tied to the Motor City and to Hawaii.
Gail explained she’s of a certain age (she turns 78 this summer) and in excellent health but knows as one ages there’s greater need for medical assistance. Hawaii isn’t close to duplicating what’s developing in Detroit.
As an example, Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University broke ground on a new hospital this week which will expand Henry Ford’s campus near the New Center area. It’s expected to open by 2027.
Another reason: Being closer to family and friends including those in Detroit. Her brother, Max Gail (star of the 1970s TV show “Barney Miller”) has four kids and grandchildren and lives in San Francisco and Emily Gail’s six other siblings, and nieces and nephews, are scattered across the country and in Germany. She wants to move back to the mainland and said there’s no place she’d rather be than Detroit.
Gail has always paid close attention to things in Detroit but admits to being so impressed with two recent events — the 2024 NFL draft in April, when 750,000 people attended, followed by the opening of the Michigan Central on June 6, a mobility and innovation hub rising from the shuttered train station, thanks to the leadership of Bill Ford, who championed its resurgence.
Changing times in Detroit
Gail moved to the Big Island of Hawaii with her partner, Herb “Pooh” Squires, in the 1980s.
“When I first arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii, it was to participate in the Ironman triathlon in 1982. I was one of the first women to do Ironman and Pooh and I were one of the first couples,” she said.
She was featured on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports“: “They wanted to know more about our wardrobe and theme of why we were in Hawaii doing Ironman.” She told them it was to promote Detroit and the “Say Nice Things about Detroit” movement, as well as the Emily Detroit Run.
Gail and Squires started the run in 1975. The race headquarters was at her popular retail, hot dog and ice cream store, Emily’s Across the Street, which was next door to the London Chop House in downtown Detroit.
With Detroit being talked about for its crime rate in the 1980s, Gail and Squires wanted to change the message, creating the now-famous slogan: “When we started ‘Say Nice Things About Detroit,’ all we were saying is wherever you live, work or play if you have a personal story about what it is you like, love, enjoy about Detroit, share that story. It makes a difference,” Gail recalled on her website emily’s.org.
Meanwhile, her store location in Detroit grew in popularity and became much in demand, with others vying for it. Gail lost her lease to another business, which she described as a low point in her life. The couple then lost their Indian Village home in Detroit, making matters worse, and they were figuring out what came next.
Across the nation, the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii was in need of a race director. Gail had been a consultant to it and organizers asked whether she’d fill in as temporary director. She did and the couple never left Hawaii. She got her Hawaii real estate license in 1998. She also hosted the “Emily T Gail Show” on a local ESPN radio station from 2010-16 and she has a YouTube channel called Emily T Gail, often featuring Detroiters.
Gail and Squires grew apart in Hawaii; he died in 2013.
Motor City ties
Gail’s background in Detroit is a family affair.
Her father, Max Gail, started Gail’s Office Supply in the late 1940s. She opened Emily’s Camera and Gift Shop down the hall from the Caucus Club in downtown Detroit in 1969 and opened other businesses later. “I loved Detroit and wanted to make a difference, like my dad had,” she said.
Despite leaving metro Detroit 30 years ago, sales of her “Say Nice Things About Detroit” merchandise line has continued to grow. “Ink Detroit created a ‘Say Nice Things About Detroit’ collection line and have done a nice job of marketing it, along with all their Detroit and Michigan products they also sell,” Gail said. Ink has a store on Nine Mile in Hazel Park and also sells products online.
Gail remains a hometown celebrity in Detroit. She had visited regularly and was community liaison for the Detroit Foundation Hotel in Detroit until COVID-19. She hasn’t been back since.
Shinola paid homage to her with “The Gail” watch, introduced in 2017, to celebrate her efforts to change how people perceive the city through her slogan.
Another reason Gail hasn’t traveled: Taking care of her beloved but aging cats, Pono Boy, who is diabetic, and Buddy Zen.
She’s planning on returning to Detroit in September to attend her 60th Grosse Ile High School class reunion and Crain’s Detroit Homecoming.
She still rarely goes out without wearing her “Say Nice Things About Detroit” T-shirt or hat, which always elicit reaction.
“I have had more people tell me their Detroit stories,” she said. “A common one I‘ve heard is from doctors or others transferred for their job: At first, they were upset and then they end up loving Detroit and staying. Detroit has a way of impacting people that way.”
More: Auto industry organization looks to grow its reach, efforts in Michigan
More: Businessman William Pickard’s legacy created opportunity for others to follow
Contact Carol Cain: 248-355-7126 or [email protected]. She is senior producer/host of “Michigan Matters,” which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and noon Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD. See the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Dean Sharon Matusik, Denise Ilitch, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett and Oakland University’s Center for Civic Engagement’s David Dulio on this Sunday’s show. “Michigan Matters” can also be found on those stations’ listings on FUBO, Pluto TV, Youtube.com. (This episode was taped before the June 15 splash pad shooting in Rochester Hills).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The woman who got you to ‘Say Nice Things About Detroit’ is moving back
Source Agencies
