Paul Hoover, 42, writer. Though he published his first novel only last fall, Hoover has been writing award-winning poetry since his student days at Manchester College in Ft. Wayne. His ”Saigon, Illinois” (Vintage paperback, $8.95) is a somewhat autobiographical look at a Vietnam-era conscientious objector. ”I had been a poet in residence at Columbia College for 15 years, and I decided I had better write this book.” Now movie moguls are nibbling for screen rights.
Daniel T. McCaffery, 41, master builder. The senior veep of BCE Development Properties is responsible for two of the biggest construction projects in town: Chicago Place (Saks Fifth Avenue`s new home on Michigan Avenue) and the World Trade Center. McCaffery and BCED also will weigh options for the old Saks building, which they take over in 1990. If that`s not enough, BCED also has plans for a suburban development to be announced this year.
Dan Jiggetts, 34, sports broadcaster. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Harvard grad and former Bears offensive lineman is negotiating a contract with Channel 32 as sports anchor for the local independent-at the same time he`s pressing honchos at CBS network sports to let him cover games other than football. Now one of several ”expert” football color analysts for the Big Eye, Jiggetts` long-range goal is a berth with the team that covers the Winter Olympics in 1992.
Hope Rudnick, 45, retailer. As the new owner of Stanley Korshak, Rudnick plans to shift the Boul Mich shop`s emphasis from serving ”ladies who lunch” to
”women who have power lunches.” Rudnick, who has been with Korshak for 12 years and owns the neighboring Krizia boutique, says the power-lunchers
”don`t have time to shop every week. They shop twice a year.” She promises only a few changes in the shop`s designer lines, but some lower prices.
Hoken S. Seki, 53, dealmaker. Head of the international department for the Bell, Boyd & Lloyd law firm-with a slew of Japanese clients-the Arizona-born Seki is the man to watch as the weak dollar continues to draw investment-hunters here. Among his informed guesses for `89: A Japan-U.S.-Europe consortium will buy Sears Tower; Japanese will acquire a major Midwest bank;
Japanese acquisition of small and medium-sized U.S. companies is the next trend.
John Sandford, 35, storyteller. He has illustrated 25 children`s books in the last few years, and now he`s writing them, too. His first, ”The Gravity Company” (Abington Press, $14.95), was published in September; ”Nellie Lou`s Hairdos” is set for June. ”It was a little frustrating to illustrate with no input into the plot,” he said. ”I`ve been putting my ideas down in notebooks for years, and it finally came time to show them to editors. I`m getting good reactions.”
Tribune photo by Chris Walker (color). Marc Schulman, 33, cheesecake king. He`ll come out with a ”light” Eli`s cheesecake in 1989-only 250 calories a slice. Still, his range of non-light creations, at 350 calories a slice, continue their upward sales surge. ”I expect we`ll be making 9,000 to 10,000 cakes a day this year,” Schulman said. Eli`s was making 300 daily when Schulman left a law practice in 1984 to turn his father`s signature dessert
(at Eli`s the Place for Steak) into a national business; he took over the entire operation last year when his father died. This year he faces the added challenge of maintaining the restaurant as a Chicago institution.
Tribune photo by Phil Greer (color). Sears Tower, 14, landmark. It`s been called a symbol of Chicago`s might, it cost more than $150 million to build, its 110 floors plus broadcast antennas make it the world`s tallest building
(1,522 feet)-and now it`s for sale. With a price tag ranging between $1 billon and $1.8 billion, it will also probably be history`s most expensive real estate transaction involving a single building. Seems like a natural for Donald Trump.
Tribune photo by Anne Cusack (color). Ani Aznavoorian, 11, and sister Marta, 16 musicians. The musical sisters, of Barrington, walked away with a couple of top prizes in the 1988 Illinois Young Performers Competition. Pianist Marta took 2d place and $4,000 in the senior division; Ani, a cellist, took 1st and another $4,000 in the junior division. ”My husband and I are very amateurish, but we`ve always loved music. The children have the natural ability,” said their mother, Christine. The prize money is earmarked for scholarship, which can be applied to music lessons now; Marta takes three hours of lessons a week; Ani has two. ”It was hard (for them) to comprehend winning all that money, but let`s just say Daddy was very excited,” said their mother.
Tribune photo by Bill Hogan (color). Kevin Morrissey (left), 36, and Barry Bluestein, 38, bookstore owners. They have about 3,000 titles-each about food, wine or both in their Season to Taste Books Ltd., 911 W. School St., which they opened in July. Thought to be the first specialty bookstore of its kind in the Midwest, it`s a homey spot where there frequently are food samples to taste and coffee to drink while browsing. There`s also a small takeout food counter, with the food made from recipes in the books. Says Bluestein,
”There`s so much food consciousness here. It`s a lot of fun being with people who love food and a lot of fun turning people on to food.”
Tribune photo by Bill Hogan (color). Clyde Farr, 38, party pro. A floral designer who left his native Georgia last May to join Flowers By Arrangement here, Farr estimates his fees will exceed $750,000 in 1989. He`s a full-service party planner who will help choose the tablecloth, arrange for original music and even help select a wedding dress. Head of the new consumer division of Kristin Janicki`s contract floral business, Farr works with consumers rather than corporations. ”I do the personal things-weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties,” he says. ”I think I should enjoy the party as much as the guests do.”
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Tribune photo by Chris Walker (color). Tad Takano, 62, graphic designer. Takano has pioneered an entirely new art medium: His cybergrams employ a computer-controlled machine that functions somewhat like a cartoon animation device. Visualizing increments of movement and entering them into the computer, Takano causes the device to expose small parts of photographic paper until a pattern emerges. ”Some of my pieces might have 2,000 moves and 2,000 exposures,” Takano said. Next? ”I want to use this to make photographic images in color.”
Yechiel Eckstein, 37, rabbi. The 5-year-old Holyland Fellowship of Christians and Jews soon will begin peppering the airwaves with programs and public service spots. Eckstein, of Congregation Mikdash El, Evanston, tries to help Jews understand Christians and vice versa. The folk-singing fourth-generation rabbi hopes the messages will lead to interfaith teamwork: But ”Christians and Jews coming together to form a more moral society? Ah, that`s the tricky one” (color).
Tribune photo by Chris Walker (color). Samuel A. Floyd Jr., 51, black music expert. At the Columbia College Center for Black Music Research, Floyd gives black music the scholarly attention it deserves. On Feb. 7 and 8 in Columbia`s Getz Theater, the 14-member, Floyd-assembled Black Music Repertory Ensemble will perform long-neglected works. The music will herald an as yet unspecified growth of the center ”to expand our services to the scholarly community and to the public at large.”
Tribune photo by Walter Kale (color). Emile Godfrey, 38, film festival chairman. If the Chicago International Film Festival looks different this fall, some changes may be due to the efforts of Godfrey, the parent body`s new chairman. Godfrey, PR chief of 1st National Bank, succeeds broadcaster Ray Nordstrand, who served the fest 11 years. ”We`re revitalizing the
organization from A to Z,” Godfrey said. ”And I want to spend time with the critics to get their ideas on how we could show more relevant and interesting films.”
Tribune photo by Bob Langer (color). Mark Grace, 24, baseball player. One reason the Cubs feel safe in trading such hitters as Leon Durham and Rafael Palmeiro could be the team`s confidence in first-baseman Grace, a hustling rookie who posted the highest average (.296) for a Cub newcomer since Bill Madlock`s .313 in 1974. Grace also wins for team spirit. ”Another player strikes out with the bases loaded, and he`s the first one over to him, patting him on the back,” manager Don Zimmer said.