Mary Schmich

A sign showing a parking lot at Green Lake Park is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak on April 10, 2020, in Seattle.

Column: Could Chicago use Seattle’s ideas to keep more green spaces and paths open, yet safe?

April 24, 2020 at 7:21 p.m.

In recent days, new barricades have popped up as fast as dandelions around the lakefront parks where I often walk. And just as fast, certain runners and walkers have found...

Linda Lamberty and her dog, Roxie, were the first to step outside Smith Village Senior Living Community in Beverly on April 18, 2020, to watch a parade of cars drive by thanking staff and greeting residents.

Column: Who do you worry about most in this pandemic? A parent, a sibling, a friend?

April 22, 2020 at 3:22 p.m.

Who do you worry about most right now? During this strange, uncharted moment, as the coronavirus creeps into every aspect of our lives, most of us are worrying about other...

Members of the Garcia family, including Kaitlyn, from left, Celeste, their mother, Anilu, and Isabella, wave to teachers and staff from John Dore Elementary School participating in a vehicle parade April 2, 2020, in Chicago.

Column: 10 tips for helping yourself during the pandemic — mostly by helping others

April 17, 2020 at 6:31 p.m.

We often hear that we're all in this pandemic together. But the truth is? We're not, at least not all in the same way. As COVID-19 stalks the globe, there...

Katharine Solheim, an owner of Pilsen Community Books, writes a personalized note to a customer who was planning to pick up books curbside April 16.

Column: In Pilsen and far beyond, indie bookstores carry on in the pandemic. You can help.

April 17, 2020 at 1:00 a.m.

Someday Katharine Solheim will look back and tell the story of how she finally achieved her dream of running a bookshop and then, in the midst of a pandemic, had...

A jogger runs on the Lakefront Trail near the Diversey Harbor inlet in Chicago on March 25, 2020. The trail closed that same week.

Column: To nag or not to nag those social distance violators?

April 15, 2020 at 11:31 a.m.

OK, runners. Time to step up. Or, rather, step aside, way aside. The coronanag is watching you. She sees you when you're spitting. She hears you while you pant. She...

A chalk mural by Heather Gentile Collins outside Roscoe Village Pub in Chicago conveys an encouraging message for Chicagoans April 9, 2020.

Column: When it’s all over. A pandemic fantasy.

April 10, 2020 at 8:43 p.m.

When it was all over, when the virus had retreated and the fear had faded, the people came out of their homes, and they were changed. Changed by solitude. By...

Jeliner Jordan sews masks for her neighbors on April 9, 2020.

Column: In her CHA senior high-rise, she’s known as ‘the seamstress lady.’ Her COVID-19 protective masks are in high demand.

April 10, 2020 at 4:04 p.m.

Word recently got around that Jeliner Jordan was making protective masks, and before long her handiwork was in high demand in her senior high-rise. "Jelly!" people plead. "Jelly, I need...

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