Young remembered for his toughness, honesty

Friends and colleagues of former Mayor Coleman Young mourned his death Saturday, remembering him as one of a kind.

"There won't be another Coleman Young," said U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., (D-Detroit).

Young, a civil rights and labor leader and World War II soldier, was among the nation's first big-city black mayors when he won the first of his five terms in 1973.

"Coleman Young was a legend in his own time - a leader, a fighter, a pioneer in the battle for equal rights and against racial discrimination. His humor, gusto and passion for life will never be duplicated," said Gov. John Engler.

AP PHOTO Former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young leaves a news conference in Detroit in June.

President Jimmy Carter, who returned Young's support in the 1976 presidential election with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid for the city, called Young "one of the greatest mayors our country has known."

"With compassion and vision, he provided the leadership that lifted Detroit from a climate of unprecedented violence to one of hope and greater prosperity," Carter said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time."

President Clinton called Young "not only a great mayor of Detroit but an inspiration to so many city leaders throughout the nation."

"Mayor Young was truly an outstanding public servant who will be missed," Clinton said.

Conyers was a teen-ager when he met Young, who was active in politics in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood, as was Conyers' father. While Young was well known for his salty language, he could also be the consummate charmer, the member of congress said.

"He has a magnetic presence, a splendid orator. He was a happy-go-lucky guy, but he had a mind like a steel trap. If you're laughing with Coleman for too long, you're going to lose your pants," Conyers said.

Young was "charming, entertaining, humorous, thoughtful," said former U.S. Sen. Donald Riegle Jr.

"I think Coleman, in my mind, is the Jackie Robinson of American electoral politics," Riegle said. "He really broke the color line, by being elected mayor and going on to a number of further re-elections.

"He was a brilliant thinker. He had his own way of expressing himself. He could be blunt, especially if he thought someone was pushing him," he said. "But under all that, was an exceptional intellect."

Mayor Dennis Archer, who succeeded Young, said the city has lost "a great warrior."

"Mayor Young was not one ever to bite his tongue," he said. "His compassion, his intellect, his courage, his wit and even his occasionally sharp tongue were the essential ingredients of a man who tried to lead us to a world as it should be, rather than accepting a world of the past."

The battles Young fought included one before the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee. His labor organizing earned him a subpoena. Asked if he was a member of the Communist Party, Young refused to answer. He told the panel he considered its activities to be un-American, he said in his autobiography, "Hard Stuff."

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said Young was a pioneer and role model for blacks.

"He had to be the hero of black Americans while at the same time he had to carry the mantle of organized labor," Brown said. "While at the same time, he literally had to be a staunch middle of the road Democrat in order to be successful at all."

Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit, said history will judge Young as the "linchpin in the renaissance of Detroit."

"As we approach the millennium, Mayor Young's personality and accomplishments will loom large," he said.

12-01-97