Legendary author, Charlie LeDuff, was born in Virginia but raised in Livonia, Michigan.

A man with a complex lineage (part Native American / Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa, part French), he has never been afraid of crossing boundary lines and speaking truth to power.

He doesn’t just cover the news.

He dives into it headfirst, dragging Detroit’s forgotten stories back to the forefront even in the face of immense public scrutiny.

Charlie LeDuff is an alumnus of the University of Michigan, who later went on to study journalism at UC Berkeley.

From there, he began working for none other than The New York Times, where he spent over a decade shining a light on everything from class issues to race to what it means to be an American.

It was a position that eventually led to him winning a Pulitzer Prize for his part in a ten-part series on race in America entitled “How Race Is Lived in America,” which distinguished him as a writer of a higher caliber than most.

LeDuff returned to Detroit later in his career, joining The Detroit News, followed by Fox 2 Detroit, where his segments became something of a cult favorite among viewers thanks to his gritty, cinematic, gonzo style that often felt more like performance art than news reporting.

LeDuff’s presence was brash yet honest, and he quickly became known as a mouthpiece for Detroiters discontent with everything from water shutoffs to police corruption and gentrification.

Seeking an avenue to further shine a light on these matters, LeDuff e launched a Detroit-based podcast and livestream called the No BS News Hour and ventured into publishing, releasing “Work and Other Sins,” and “US Guys, Detroit: An American Autopsy, and Shtshow!,” both of which seamlessly blended humor with scathing cultural critique.

That said, much like all prolific public figures, controversy followed LeDuff.

He faced accusations of plagiarism, and in 2023, he was fired from The Detroit News after facing extreme backlash for insulting Michigan’s attorney general with a coded slur.

Lucky for Charlie, he has never much cared whether or not he’s liked.

Quite the contrary, he’s Detroit’s unpredictable conscience – a man with a cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other.

One who isn’t afraid to kick down doors even when everyone else is satisfied with pretending nothing is wrong.

For that, he will always have a special place in the annals of Detroit’s most iconic truth tellers.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: October 8, 2025