As he parked his bicycle outside the Oak Park Public Library, Jim Ritter, 65, of Oak Park stopped to answer a few questions for the Oak Leaves on Dec. 10.
Q: What brings you here today?
A: I’m dropping off a book. “A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman and the Birth of Modern China, 1949,” by Kevin Peraino.
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Q: Would you recommend it?
A: I did enjoy it, so you can put that on the list.
Q: Picking up anything new today?
A: No, I got some books yesterday that I’ll get to next.
Q: Favorite winter activity?
A: The activities I like to do aren’t available here. I like to ice skate, and I grew up in Wisconsin. … I like to walk in the snow.
Q: Local restaurant you love?
A: New Pot, right over here [on Lake Street]. I get spring rolls and sweet and sour vegetables with tofu.
Q: Traveling anywhere exciting in 2018?
A: Perhaps central Europe. Prague, Vienna … Prague and Vienna, mostly. But that’s a maybe.
Q: Words you live by?
A: The First Amendment.
Q: Are you, by chance, a journalist?
A: I used to be. I spent most of my career at the Chicago Sun-Times. I covered health for the last 10 years.
Q: Are you a big cyclist?
A: I use it for commuting.
Q: Do you find Oak Park to be bike-friendly?
A: No. It takes more than a stripe on the pavement.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.