Max Fisher

Age: 91 Residence: Franklin
Occupation: Philanthropist and financier
Why honored: For supporting city's revival

“Right from the beginning of this challenging period for me, he called and said, ‘You’ve got to have PMA. That’s very important.’ I said, ‘What’s PMA?’ He said, ‘Positive Mental Attitude.’ I had sweat shirts made up that said he’s the chairman of PMA. When Max Fisher is a friend, you have a real friend.” -- David Hermelin the former U.S. ambassador to Norway, who was stricken last year with cancer

There are millions of reasons Detroit owes him thanks

ax Fisher doesn’t want to talk about his 13 honorary degrees. He doesn’t want to talk about his 49 awards from organizations such as the Jewish Welfare Federation and the United Way of America. Nor does he care to discuss the millions of dollars he’s given away for a broad range of causes.

    “I’m not much for publicity,” he says.

    Mention Detroit, however, and Fisher’s interest sparks.

    “I think,” says the patriarch of the city’s long efforts at revival, “things are picking up.”

    Fisher doesn’t just think things are picking up. He acts to make sure that they are. Through generous contributions to cultural institutions such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and his creation of organizations dedicated to urban revitalization, Fisher has been a driving force for positive change.

    “He calls me weekly about aspects of our program and to gather information about what’s going on in the city. When he does that, I learn as much from him as he learns from me,” says Paul Hillegonds, the president of Detroit Renaissance, a business roundtable Fisher co-founded 30 years ago.

    “He always asks a lot of questions and he’s a very perceptive observer. That, combined with his vision of what can be, has made him an unusually successful business person and civic leader.”

    Fisher, born in Pittsburgh, spent his early years in Salem, Ohio, and went on to Ohio State University on a football scholarship. He moved to Detroit during the Great Depression to join his father’s oil business.

    He and two other men formed a gasoline company in 1933 that was later bought out by Marathon Oil Co.

    Fisher since has served on numerous corporate boards, such as Owens-Illinois Inc., United Brands and Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. It’s his enduring involvement in Jewish philanthropy, Republican politics and civic causes, however, that has commanded public interest in his life.

    Ever the optimist, Fisher continually prods those around to beat the challenges that confront them.

    “The glass is half-filled or better with him,” says David Hermelin, the former U.S. ambassador to Norway, who was stricken last year with cancer.

    “Right from the beginning of this challenging period for me, he called and said, ‘You’ve got to have PMA. That’s very important.’ I said, ‘What’s PMA?’ He said, ‘Positive Mental Attitude.’ I had sweat shirts made up that said he’s the chairman of PMA. When Max Fisher is a friend, you have a real friend.”

    Fisher’s positive attitude toward Detroit is typical. Be patient, he says. Rebuilding a city is like creating a mosaic. You put in one piece at a time.

    “If you’re not optimistic, it never will happen,” he says.

    It certainly wouldn’t happen as quickly without Fisher, a man of extraordinary devotion to the community and its people.

    — Jon Pepper