1988
Bio:
Neal Shine is Detroit. A zealous Detroit booster, he has worked to promote, encourage and inspire community spirit and activity for over 30 years. He was born, raised and educated in Detroit, attending St. Rose Grade School and High School, and then the University of Detroit where he received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1952.
Mr. Shine joined the Detroit Free Press in 1950 as a copyboy. Through the years, he progressed to his current position of Senior Management Editor. His widely read human interest columns dealing with the city and its people, often including his own family and his Irish heritage, appear regularly in the newspaper and its Sunday Detroit magazine. He is also host-moderator of “Detroit Week in Review” a WTVS-TV production.
A distinguished journalist, he has received numerous recognitions and honors. He has received the American Newspaper Guild Page One Award for public service reporting and AP and UPI state awards for column writing. He received the George Pierrot Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to journalism and the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Award for outstanding service in journalism. He has also directed staff coverage on projects that won awards. Most notable among these are the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Detroit riots and the George Polk Memorial Award for coverage of the Kent State shootings. Other awards include the Heywood Broun Award, Overseas Press Club Award, National Headline Award and Sigma Delta Chi Award. Additionally, he has received the American Bar Association Gavel Award and the Detroit Press Club Foundation Medallion – both for outstanding public service.
Mr. Shine has devoted a great deal of time to the Detroit metropolitan community and its causes and has been honored for his contributions. He was named the Citizen of the year by the March of Dimes, Poletown Man of the Year, and Irishman of the Year by the Pallotine Fathers. He was recognized by the city of Grosse Pointe for a decade of service as a baseball commissioner in the Babe Ruth League, by the Boy Scouts of American for participation in the POSA Food Program and has served as Grand Marshal of the Detroit St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Additionally, he has received the Town Award from the University of Detroit and the American Lung Association Service Award.
Mr. Shine has numerous affiliations in the newspaper industry including membership in the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Michigan Press Association and the Detroit Press Club, where he serves on the Board of Governors. He also has been a journalism instructor at local academic institutions including Wayne State University, Michigan State University, the University of Detroit and Oakland University.
With the exception of a two-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army, Neal Shine has never strayed too far from his hometown. Born at Cottage hospital in Grosse Pointe Farms, he currently resides in Grosse Point Park with his wife Phyllis. The Shines have five children.
Award was presented at the Works of Mercy Dinner September 8, 1988 by Maureen A. Fay, O.P., President, Mercy College of Detroit and Thomas V. Angott, Chairman of the MCD Board of Trustees and President of Pure Milk Co.