In a sunlit clearing on Belle Isle, between nonbelligerent Detroit and warring Canada, since last autumn there has been building a 90-ft. tower for a carillon dedicated to peace. It was conceived by a little old lady, Nancy Brown, aged 69, and paid for by the nickels and dimes contributed by those who read her famed lovelorn column in the Detroit News (TIME, Nov. 13).
Every year since 1934, at sunrise on Easter morning, Nancy Brown has sponsored a sunrise service on Belle Isle. Her readers, who flocked to the services in tens of thousands, heard preachers and speakers, but never were allowed a glimpse of her. With the fur collar of her coat turned up around her face, she mingled unnoticed among her admirers, for they had never even seen her picture.
Last week the Peace Carillon was unveiled at a sunrise dedication service on Belle Isle, and with it Nancy Brown was unveiled to her readers. Long before midnight, her audience began to gather in the grassy plaza around the limestone tower. Detroit police estimated that 100,000 people turned out to wait for Nancy.
At 4:45 a.m., as the sun rose over dewy treetops, the chimes pealed out Nearer, My God, to Thee. The climax of the two-hour service: when diminutive Nancy Brown stepped to the lectern, peeped over and in a tremulous voice spoke to her readers for the first time (see cut).