Motor City Music – Keener 13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit
Growing up, my favorite radio station was WKNR, an underpowered miracle of a Top 40 rocker in Dearborn, Michigan. I had to work hard to pull it in on my car radio in Ann Arbor, but it was worth the effort to hear the great music, the engaging disc jockeys, and the high energy that powered me through my high school days. The station inspired my own radio dreams, but by the time I was old enough and good enough to audition for a coveted spot among the Keener Keymen, WKNR had faded into history.
Broadcasting became my “magnificent obsession.” I made a living in the business for a while before realizing that a better career path lay in business management. But I never lost my love for Keener.
Along with my college roommate, Steve Schram, I collected Keener memorabilia. Years later, Steve and I created Keener13.com as a tribute to our beloved WKNR. The website became a phenomenon among others who had grown up in the Detroit area during the 1960s, and soon we were inundated with gems donated by Keenerfans around the world.
That led to two defining projects. In 2019, I scanned my collection of WKNR Music Guides, wrote a history of Keener, and published Motor City Music: Keener 13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit. Then, in 2023, Steve and I launched a 24-hour audio stream at Keener13.com, recreating the spirit and format of the original station.
Without much promotion, Motor City Music has sold well, reaching beyond the generations who actually experienced Keener. Perhaps it has found an audience as a reference book for readers interested in immersing themselves in a time when our world was changing rapidly and rock radio helped us make sense of it.
For me, Keener has always been more than a radio station. It was part of the soundtrack of growing up, the inspiration for a dream, and, decades later, a way to preserve a little piece of Detroit history for anyone who still remembers the magic, or wants to discover it for the first time.
The Jessica Ramirez Thrillers
When we moved back to Florida to be closer to our children, I found myself at loose ends. Too old and too damaged to continue in a traditional career, I turned to writing fiction under the pen name “Terry Shepherd.”
During my executive years, I wanted to use my privilege as a white man in a position of authority to open doors for women, people of color, and people facing challenges. That impulse helped inspire the creation of Jessica Ramirez, a Latina cop with an iron moral compass who doesn’t always make the right decisions, even when she makes them for the right reasons.
I surrounded her with a diverse cast of characters and placed her in seemingly impossible situations. That concept led to four books so far, in which Jess battles antagonists every bit as interesting and complicated as she is.
Readers have compared her to a “female James Bond,” but I prefer to think of her as a fish out of water, determined to swim with the sharks and prevail.
The books aren’t meant to be life-changing literature. I hope, instead, that they provide an escape from the uncertainties of today’s world. A fun distraction on a long plane ride. A beach read that takes you around the world with people who care about doing what’s right and manage to have some remarkable adventures along the way.
Each character is based, at least in part, on real people I know. Some of my friends have even joined the cast in roles very different from anything on their actual résumés.
More than anything, I hope you find the stories entertaining, engaging, and fun.
How to be a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most in my “Terry Shepherd” persona has been interviewing authors. It’s a passion I discovered in 1970 when I would be called upon to interview low-level political candidates on my Ann Arbor hometown radio station, WPAG. Over the years, I’ve talked with hundreds of famous and near-famous personalities and began podcasting in 2005 with a group of college buddies, in a time when that involved signing into a telephone conference bridge. As the new century dawned, I turned my questions toward writers, at first to learn how to write better fiction. But it’s evolved into a love for ideas and a fascination with the people who write about them.
I discovered along the way that there are learnable skills to help you become an effective spokesperson for your own life and work. In 2025, I distilled the essence into “How to be a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff.” I talk about messaging, technical gear and the small things one can do to make a big impression. The digital version of the book is purposely inexpensive. If you find yourself in front of a microphone, I hope it helps you shine.
Curious Books
Over my years as a writer, I’ve experimented with many different genres and formats, submitting a variety of short stories to anthologies. A few were accepted. Most were rejected.
Undaunted, I invested in editors who helped me sharpen the stories, then wrapped many of them inside a paranormal mystery centered on a real-life independent bookstore that my friends and I frequented in college.
The overarching plot follows a college senior who discovers that he is one credit short of what he needs to graduate. His adviser offers him an independent study credit on one condition: he must spend a day with the eccentric owner of a local bookstore and write about the experience. What the student learns about the proprietor, and about himself, leads to a life-changing twist.
The collection also includes several longer stories, including one from Jessica Ramirez’s early days as a police officer, along with others that venture into science fiction and territory reminiscent of The Twilight Zone.
Joseph S. Walker, the king of short fiction, was kind enough to write a generous foreword. The result is a collection designed to be enjoyed either one story at a time or in a long, satisfying binge.