Born September 5, 1927 in (Motown) Detroit, Maynard M. Gordon early on was a newspaper addict. He became editor of his intermediate school newspaper and co-editor of his senior high school newspaper.
At Wayne State University, ‘Mac’ Gordon was a night editor and recalls as one of his top stories student reaction to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Gordon was drafted during the Korean War in 1952 and – what else – became editor of The Camp Gordon, Georgia Army newspaper.
In 1944, upon his release from the army, he joined Automotive News as a copy reader. 19 years later, as news editor, he purchased a dealer-focused newsletter called Motor News Analysis. Later Gordon acquisitions included The Imported Car Reports Newsletter. Gordon and five other Detroit-based auto writers co-founded the Detroit Auto Writers Group (DAWG) in 1967. He wrote the annual ‘auto industry’ report for the Encyclopedia Americana for 25 years and in 2011 received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Detroit Society of Professional Journalists.
He and his wife, Lucille Gordon, were married in 1949 and have three children, Dr. Julian Gordon, Elizabeth Anne Holmes and Adam Gordon.
