In a year that demanded more than its share of American heroism, these women and men stand among the best.

  They are the 2001 Michiganians of the Year, whose good works are often masked by the din and clamor of everyday life. Laboring all around us, they have enriched their communities and their state with their vision and their deeds.

  There's the individual who opened up a world of books for the blind, and the monk who spent a lifetime mending broken children and their families.

  Some are well-known, like the mayor who breathed new life into a great city, or the hockey titan and his wife, who have dedicated themselves to philanthropy.

  Some are legends in their own fields but little known to the rest of us, such as the doctor who pushed through barriers of race and gender to heal brain diseases in children.

  They are dreamers and doers, activists and the accomplished, selected from 209 nominations sent by readers to The Detroit News.

  They do us proud. See why we're all in their debt.

Past Michiganians