Barbara Brotman – Page 4

Fan of SnackWell’s Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes grapples with new version

August 18, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.

Change is good, they say. But what if change comes to something you have long treasured — a cherished daily companion, a regular cause for happiness, a reliable antidote to...

Northwestern, Lurie team up to offer transgender teens voice training

August 18, 2019 at 7:51 p.m.

The room filled with voices sliding up and down in pitch and an assortment of buzzings and hummings. It sounded like a cross between opera warmups and chanting. But the...

Pedestrians make their way down the Pedway in February 2014.

Revelation of Chicago Pedway shortcut brings gratitude, more tips

May 10, 2019 at 4:09 p.m.

The Chicago Pedway, it turns out, is not just a pedestrian walkway system, but a subject of extreme fascination. All manner of emotions poured forth in response to last week's...

Unraveling the hidden secrets of Chicago’s Pedway

May 10, 2019 at 4:09 p.m.

For years, I was mostly proud of my Chicago living skills. I have Lower Wacker Drive down pat. I know of several spots near cultural or shopping venues where you...

Quentin Mables, center, leads a yoga session at Peace House in the city's Englewood neighborhood on June 4, 2015.

Englewood’s Peace House persists in community torn by violence

August 18, 2019 at 7:51 p.m.

This is Peace House — a small white frame house whose name is a declaration of intention and hope. The word is looped across a lavender sign on the door....

Blown away by English actors with American accents

May 10, 2019 at 4:09 p.m.

One of the many greatly missed pleasures of watching "The Wire" was listening to the linguistic feat on regular display — the American accents of Idris Elba and Dominic West....

Elizabeth Larson, 93, moved from Champaign to Burr Ridge's King-Bruwaert House, a continuous care facility.

Older parents divulge what it’s like to leave home to live near adult kids

August 18, 2019 at 7:45 p.m.

A while back, I wrote in this space about adult children moving their elderly parents to live near them. It was an experience a friend was going through as his...

Two women and their unleashed dogs walk along the shoreline at Montrose Beach in Chicago on May 15, 2015, as Caspian terns rest nearby. Dog walkers and bird watchers have clashed there recently.

Birders dismayed over unleashed dogs at Montrose Beach

August 18, 2019 at 7:41 p.m.

The sandy shoreline of Montrose Beach early in the morning exudes tranquillity. But on several occasions in recent weeks, the calm has been broken by conflicts between two groups who...

Peter Sagal reads over lines in December 2011 before a live recording of "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago. The NPR host was tricked recently by two WBEZ podcast hosts into arriving early for a recording session. Sagal has a reputation for not being punctual.

Lying to the chronically late for the greater good

May 10, 2019 at 4:09 p.m.

OK, so maybe George Washington could not tell a lie. But what if Thomas Jefferson had the habit of being late to every cabinet meeting, running in with his wig...

Monse Wisdom, left, and Destinee Oitzinger hang "We Could be Heroes," a painting by Steve Mumford, at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. The Joe Bonham Project, a collection of artwork about wounded soldiers, opens Monday.

Artwork featuring wounded soldiers offers insight and opportunity to reflect

August 18, 2019 at 7:38 p.m.

The soldier stares straight out from the painting, James Dean-handsome but war-ravaged, lying in a hospital bed holding an X-ray of his spine held together by metal. Michael Fay remembers...

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