Mary Schmich

Jerry Coyne, a widely respected evolutionary biologist and an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago, feeds migratory ducks on Botany Pond on the University of Chicago campus in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on Monday, March 30, 2020. He feeds the ducks three times a day. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

Column: The pandemic, a professor and a duck named Honey: A story of life in a time of death

April 1, 2020 at 11:23 a.m.

Honey returned to the Botany Pond at the University of Chicago in the first week of March, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic chased almost everyone off campus. From his lab...

Column: The uncertainties of having a baby during a pandemic: ‘That’s all part of her birth story now’

March 28, 2020 at 8:54 p.m.

Early Tuesday morning, as news everywhere focused on the global calamity called the coronavirus, a girl named Isabella emerged into the world. She arrived black-haired, 8 pounds, healthy and loved....

People crowd The 606 trail in the Wicker Park neighborhood on March 25, 2020.

Column: Bravo, Mayor Lightfoot, for shutting down the lakefront

March 26, 2020 at 3:57 p.m.

Bravo, Mayor Lightfoot. Bravo for the heartbreaking, lifesaving decision to shut down our beloved lakefront. On Thursday, Chicago's mayor did the thing many of us dreaded but all of us...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun recommending that people wear cloth masks when out in public, particularly in high-risk areas or in situations where social distancing is not possible. It's important to know how to do so in a manner that is effective, however, and this guide will help inform you on how to properly wear a face mask.

Column: COVID-19 as the ‘Boomer Remover’? Let’s talk about that.

July 16, 2020 at 11:18 a.m.

Until the past week or so, I've rarely thought of myself as old, at least not in the diminishing way the word is often used. I work a full-time job,...

LaSalle Street. looking south, toward the empty Financial District on March 17, 2020.

Column: It’s OK not to feel OK right now. But here’s how to feel better.

March 20, 2020 at 5:01 p.m.

It's OK to be scared. It's OK to be confused, anxious, angry, lonely. Whatever emotion you're feeling in this coronavirus craziness, it's OK. Try not to dwell in the worst...

A lone pedestrian crosses Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park in the rain on March 18, 2020.

Column: The uplifting, unsettling pleasures of going for a walk in a coronavirus age

March 19, 2020 at 4:33 p.m.

We're living in an eerie moment filled with words many of us have never used before. Social distancing. Self-isolation. Sheltering in place. This eerie moment has presented us with new...

Column: Befuddled and grieving: As nursing homes restrict visitors in the COVID-19 crisis, one woman fears she’ll never see her mother again

March 17, 2020 at 6:13 p.m.

How quickly it happened. How quickly we lost the chance to touch certain people we love, to hold a hand, to give a hug, to wipe away a tear. Suddenly...

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