It was 1986 and gas was about to break a buck. WOW!!!! Yes -- the sky was falling and it was BIG news. Years later we’re $2.50 and rising. © Joe Polimeni Photography

April 1981: Taro Yamasaki, photographer for the Detroit Free Press gets a champagne shower that foams over his glasses by chief photographer Tony Spina. Yamasaki won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for photographs he had taken inside Jackson Prison, the largest walled prison in the world titled, "Jackson Prison: Armed and dangerous." Yamasaki’s father was the legendary architect Minoru Yamasaki best known for the World Trade Center. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

Detroit Free Press photographer Manny Crisostomo is lifted by then Chief Photographer Tony Spina(L) and John Stano(R) along with fellow photographers after he won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Crisostomo, the only Pulitzer Prize winner from his native Guam, won for his series of photographs depicting student life at Southwestern High School in Detroit. © Joe Polimeni Photography

October 1, 1977: in a pouring rain, Pelé played his last professional match and is carried around the field after the game greeting a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey during an exhibition match between New York Cosmos and his former club Santos. Pelé appeared for both sides, playing one half for each. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

April,1980: Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, given the nickname due to his resemblance of "Big Bird" character on Sesame Street delighted fans throughout the globe with his antics on the baseball diamond. He would crouch down on the pitcher's mound and fix cleat marks, what became known as "manicuring the mound", talk to himself, talk to the ball, aim the ball like a dart, strut around the mound after every out. He would also shake everyone's hand after a game. Every time he pitched, Tiger Stadium was jam-packed with fans that became known as "Bird Watchers". Surfin’ Bird – The Bird is the Word” by "The Trashmen" would play over the loudspeakers at Tiger Stadium and could be heard in cars through out the city although the song debuted in 1963. He was Rookie of the Year in 1976 but in 1981 he was given his unconditional release after he felt his arm just, in his words, "go dead." © Joe Polimeni Photography

May 1980: George Herbert Walker Bush, our 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993, waves to cheering crowds in Holland, MI campaigning for President. He lost the party’s nomination to Ronald Reagan, but became his Vice President from 1981 to 1989. He was one of the most interesting, kindest, and genuine politicians I have ever met or covered. Photo By Joe Polimeni © Joe Polimeni Photography

October 1992: Trains have long been a part of the campaign trail so while we're in campaign mode a little blast from the past. With his campaign, pardon the pun, coming off the rails, President George H. W. Bush hit the rails with his “Spirit of America” tour. Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992; it seems a no brainer for reelection. A coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings, many leading Democrats declined to seek their party's nomination. But an economic recession, and doubts of whether Bush ended the Gulf War properly, reduced his popularity. Also the race took an unexpected twist when Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot launched a third party bid, claiming that neither Republicans nor Democrats could eliminate the deficit and make government more efficient. Perot later bowed out of the race for a short time, then reentered. Nearing election day, polls suggested that the race was a dead-heat, but Bill Clinton pulled out on top, defeating Bush in a 43% to 38% popular vote margin. Perot won 19% of the popular vote, one of the highest totals for a third party candidate in U.S. history, drawing equally from both major candidates. Several factors were blamed in defeat. On the eve of the election, unemployment reports of 7.8% appeared, the highest since 1984, also the economic recession contributed to a sharp decline in his approval rating to just 37%. And who could forget: "Read my lips: no new taxes" pledge. © Joe Polimeni Photography

January 1985: Another Super Bowl, with the New England Patriots, XX, this time without Tom Brady who was 7 years old at the time. This year it was all about another quarterback, Chicago Bears’ Jim McMahon. He was fined by the NFL during the playoffs for violating the league's dress code wearing a headband from Adidas. Then started to wear a headband where he hand-wrote "Rozelle", after then league commissioner Pete Rozelle. He also mooned a helicopter that was hovering over practice. Having dinner in the French Quarter that was open to the streets people were screaming that Jim McMahon was in the Quarter. In all the Super Bowls I covered most of the players were on lock down and curfew in the evenings; you never saw them. The Quarter was packed, I grabbed my bag and camera ran through the streets and looked. As dumb luck would have it I ran right into him holding a beer. The Bears won 46-10 and McMahon became the first quarterback in the history of the Super Bowl to rush for two touchdowns. © Joe Polimeni Photography

October, 1976: Yankee Manager Billy Martin hugs pitcher Ed Figueroa after winning the American League Pennant. © Joe Polimeni Photography

July 1982: Two of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Huron are connected by the Straits of Mackinac. If you travel another 60 miles north you hit the Great Lake granddaddy Lake Superior. Spanning the Straits is the Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Michigan peninsulas, the city of St. Ignace on the north end with the village of Mackinaw City on the south. The peninsulas were linked for decades by ferries before the bridge opened on November 1, 1957. It is the world's 16th-longest in total suspension and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere. In the winter when the winds are too high, the bridge is closed to traffic. For the Bridge’s 25th Anniversary, on July 4th weekend I took a ride to shoot a summer series on Northern Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge was my first stop. It was getting all spruced up, fresh paint, new signs and repairing the globes for the lights. © Joe Polimeni Photography

July 1982: A very skilled gentleman who is part of the maintenance team working on the bridge took me to the South Tower. We started off small. We took an elevator in the tower to the first crossover. If you look at the tower in the background, the first crossover is above the road. We walked across and I made a general view from the center. He seemed confident I was good with heights and we went back to the elevator and took it to the top. He was going to replace a red globe on one of the signal lights. After we tethered on the cable I made this view 552 feet above standing on the main cable. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Looking through some pictures last night for a presentation and came across Michael Jackson from a concert in 1984, 36 years ago. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Kentucky Derby time, a throwback to 1986. By this time several newspapers were beginning to use color on their front pages, some on the inside. The Wall Street Journal, who never used pictures, was soon using pictures on the front in color. The technology changed in the early 1980’s. We had analog transmitters that could transmit a color print, thus we began to shoot everything on color negative film, opposed to Black and White Tri-X and transparency color and made color prints. By this time I shot several Derby’s and Belmont races, most in color. Here, Ferdinand is first between the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. That’s as far as he went in the Triple Crown. The picture was made via remote control under the rail. Everything was still manual, so you had to estimate focus and exposure. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

September 1989: Chris Evert announced she would retire after the US Open and waves to a standing ovation leaving the court after the quarterfinal, ending one of the best US Open careers in history. She won the tournament six times. © Joe Polimeni Photography

It was the Summer of 1977 in New York, a city filled with more than 9 million people. Heat topping 104, blackouts, looting, no subways, no elevators in a city filled with skyscrapers, terrorized by the Son of Sam, and to top it all off, the city was suffering through financial bankruptcy with massive municipal layoffs. If that wasn’t enough, the team of teams, the benchmark New York Yankees, although winning, were internally imploding. It was the 75th season for the storied franchise but as the city was falling apart, so were their Yankees. Manager Billy Martin feuded publicly with owner George Steinbrenner, they signed Reggie Jackson to a five-year $2.96 million contract, one of the largest at the time, and Martin and Jackson were in a perpetual state of warfare. The city, hanging by a thread, needed something, anything to lift its spirits. And it happened. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, to win the franchise's 21st World Series Championship, their first since 1962, and first under Steinbrenner. During this Series, Jackson earned his nickname "Mr. October" for his heroics becoming the first player to hit three home runs in a World Series game since Babe Ruth, and was the Series MVP. The summer was over, the Yankees were Champions, power was restored, the Fall air cooled the hot city, the riots subsided, fires put out, Son of Sam captured and the city celebrated their Yankees. Here in the Canyon of Heroes, in lower Manhattan, Reggie Jackson holds a newspaper with the headline, Reggie, Reggie, Reggie and a fans raised #1. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

October 5, 1982: I was traveling back to Detroit after covering the baseball playoffs and the World Series, a month long assignment. Flights were delayed and arrived after midnight. Still had a 40-minute drive home and was beat. Almost there, noticed lights on in a McDonald's, not unusual, there are many 24-hour McDonald's, just not this one. I pass it often and it was also brighter than an all night McDonald's, almost glowing. The photojournalist took over and the tiredness left. Pulled into the parking lot, saw several “grip” trucks, equipment for setting a scene for television. Talked my way past security and walked inside. There, rehearsing, were excellent Charles and Diana lookalikes. The world was still a buzz from their wedding, more than a year ago. At the time, the Detroit News and Free Press were in a heated battle, circulation, 600k each. Hiring reporters and photographers from each other was a routine occurrence. They were recruiting talent globally, Investing, sending their own people to cover major stories. You couldn’t help but see their ads on prime time TV looking for your subscription. Here Peggy Tyler, 26 at the time, and Tim Parvin, 32, both from Detroit, were part of the Who’s Behind the Free Press campaign. They segued from Charles and Diana to the real Detroit Tiger great, Al Kaline. Talked the producer into letting me make a picture. The Free Press used it on their 2nd front page. Never know what the unexpected brings. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

May 1991: University of Michigan Football Stadium, President George W. Bush and his wife Barbara greet more than 6,600 graduating students prior to giving the commencement address. He told the students the country needs a “good society,” emphasizing freedom of expression, free enterprise and volunteer service. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

I’ve been watching the series on the O.J. trial, thought I would be lucky to make it through a couple episodes before I got bored. Minus the commercials via my DVR, it’s intriguing. My career started in High School shooting H.S. football games and cheerleaders; the cheerleaders paid – lol. Walking into Shea Stadium, where as a kid I went to a few Mets and Jets games, a few years later shooting professional athletes was all in a day work. It was 1975, long, very long before the scandals that were to follow, my boss told me to back off Jets’ quarterback Joe Namath and concentrate on Buffalo Bills’ O.J. Simpson. Ironically both were elected to football's Hall of Fame in 1985. © Joe Polimeni Photography

St. Paul, Minn: The polls daunting, Walter F. Mondale is all smiles 11/6/84, with ballot in hand as he steps out of the voting booth. Mondale ran as the Democratic candidate for president losing to President Ronald Reagan in a landslide. Under President Carter, from 1977 to 1981, Mondale was the first vice president to serve as a genuine partner of a president, with full access to intelligence briefings, a weekly lunch with Mr. Carter, his own office near the president’s and his own staff integrated with Mr. Carter’s. Mondale, Fritz to many, died on Monday at his home in Minneapolis. He was 93. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

Long before Eminem, Boy Bands and dare I even recognize Justin Bieber there was Neil Sedaka. His songs, more than 500 over his 55 year career, blared on the radio when I was a young boy in the very early ‘60’s, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking up is Hard To Do” some of his biggest. He also wrote for many other artists, "Love Will Keep Us Together," No. 1 hit for Captain & Tennille. I was cutting my teeth as a photographer for United Press International learning the ropes in New York City. A fellow photographer took me under his wing, Ezio Petersen, also young, but much more established. He told me that Sedaka’s PR guy invited photographers to a rehearsal for the “Sedaka’s Back” comeback tour in New York. In 1975 Sedaka topped the charts again with “Laughter in the Rain.” Ezio taught me one of the most invaluable lessons I ever learned that day. He didn’t have much equipment, but what he did, with what he had, was unbelievable. I was in the office on my day off making a few prints, he invited me to come with him to the rehearsals; our boss gave the green light. I told him all I have is a 50mm lens, he said that’s all you’ll need; he was so right. Sedaka played well with a studio of photographers. He took his music off the piano and lifted to his face. I was right on top of him and managed to get a couple frames. Later that night I shot the concert. Truth be told covering celebrities was nerve wracking in the beginning. They were superstars when I was a child, but I soon got used to it and they became everyday people to me. Another day at work. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Long before Eminem, Boy Bands and dare I even recognize Justin Bieber there was Neil Sedaka. His songs, more than 500 over his 55 year career, blared on the radio when I was a young boy in the very early ‘60’s, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking up is Hard To Do” some of his biggest. He also wrote for many other artists, "Love Will Keep Us Together," No. 1 hit for Captain & Tennille. I was cutting my teeth as a photographer for United Press International learning the ropes in New York City. A fellow photographer took me under his wing, Ezio Petersen, also young, but much more established. He told me that Sedaka’s PR guy invited photographers to a rehearsal for the “Sedaka’s Back” comeback tour in New York. In 1975 Sedaka topped the charts again with “Laughter in the Rain.” Ezio taught me one of the most invaluable lessons I ever learned that day. He didn’t have much equipment, but what he did, with what he had, was unbelievable. I was in the office on my day off making a few prints, he invited me to come with him to the rehearsals; our boss gave the green light. I told him all I have is a 50mm lens, he said that’s all you’ll need; he was so right. Sedaka played well with a studio of photographers. He took his music off the piano and lifted to his face. I was right on top of him and managed to get a couple frames. Later that night I shot the concert. Truth be told covering celebrities was nerve wracking in the beginning. They were superstars when I was a child, but I soon got used to it and they became everyday people to me. Another day at work. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

Umbrellas surround the green at the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York. Raymond Floyd won his fourth and final major, it was his only U.S. Open title and he became its oldest winner, a record he held for four years. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

Detroit Tigers' Manager Sparky Anderson waving to cheering fans on Opening day in the early 1980's at Tiger Stadium. © Joe Polimeni Photography

It was the Summer of 1977 in New York, central air conditioning was a luxury, and the draw of power taxed the outdated grid. Heat wave temperatures climbed to 104 in Central Park, soaring past the local record of 101 degrees in 1957. Fire hydrants became cooling centers with fountain like sprays across the streets giving relief. It lead to the Blackout of ’77, looting, no subways, Making matters worse, a fire had shut down one of the city’s largest sewage treatment plants, rendering some waters around New York unfit for recreational use, including swimming. In Harlem, a young girl makes good use of cold water escaping from a hose coupling while fireman battle a vacant building fire. There were over 1,000 during the heat wave and Blackout of '77. Many of the fires burned out of control due to low hydrant pressure. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

The weather was brutal, low freezing temperatures froze the shipping channels in the Great Lakes sometime in the early 1980's. Freighters were stacking up. The Coast Guard sent the USCGC Mackinaw, a 290 foot vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes. Hearing the Mackinaw was close, I called the Coast Guard for a helicopter ride to see if I can make a caravan of freighters moving through the St. Clair River. It was foggy, and the stacks from the ships filled the air with haze. We opened the side door, it was bone chilling, the pilot was tremendous putting me in a good angle to make a picture. © Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography

© Joe Polimeni Photography