Rick Kogan – Page 58 –

Zay Smith is dead at 71, the former Sun-Times columnist and ‘Mirage’ series writer

May 14, 2020 at 8:18 a.m.

An essential player in one of the liveliest investigations in the storied history of Chicago journalism and a man of distinctive style and quick wit (in print and in life),...

Portrait of artist Tony Fitzpatrick (cq) with some of the puzzles that have been created from his artwork. Portrait taken at his home in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood on Saturday, May 9, 2020. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

If you’re artist Tony Fitzpatrick and sidelined by the pandemic, you create jigsaw puzzles. His first batch sold out in 15 minutes.

May 13, 2020 at 1:00 a.m.

I hate jigsaw puzzles and so does — make that did — Tony Fitzpatrick. This man, who has spent his life and his career in the successful pursuit of a...

Author Scott Turow in his home office in Evanston in 2013. His latest novel is the "The Last Trial," which officially publishes Tuesday.

Scott Turow’s latest, ‘The Last Trial,’ is about the witness stand we all put ourselves on as we age

May 11, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

Spending time with Scott Turow, as rewarding and entertaining as that has been over the years, means spending a great deal of time in courtrooms. If you have ever been...

Ted Grady, left, and his husband Dr. Ross Slotten in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood on Monday. Slotten's new book is "Plague Years: A Doctor's Journey Through the AIDS Crisis."

Column: A Chicago doctor who has dealt with death before says AIDS was scarier

May 6, 2020 at 1:00 a.m.

Death surrounds us, there in the numbers on TV, in newspapers and in our nightmares. Dr. Ross Slotten spends his days at the Presence Seton Family Health Center on the...

Jill Wine-Banks, who was one of the prosecutors during the Watergate scandal, speaks to protesters calling for the release of the Mueller report during a rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago in April 2019.

Column: ‘Watergate Girl’ is Jill Wine-Banks’ memories of being a female on political front lines

May 4, 2020 at 2:23 p.m.

There is a crazy man in the White House, his approval rating in free fall, surrounded by a group of enablers and criminals. He is assailed from many fronts. The...

From ‘Bombshells and Dollies’: Proud to be pinups, Las Vegas is their place

April 29, 2020 at 9:01 a.m.

Of the many celebrations, events, diversions, games and delights canceled or delayed on our muted planet, the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend may not be among the most notable. It...

There has been fairly steady stream of customers (masked and unmasked) at the Stan's Donuts & Coffee store on Chicago Avenue.

As the pandemic shuts restaurants, Stan’s Donuts rolls along

April 27, 2020 at 12:28 p.m.

Last week. Lunchtime. A surprisingly steady flow of people, most of them wearing masks of various colors and designs and most of them young, were walking into Stan's Donuts &...

Actor Jack Wallace is dead at 86: From Chicago’s Kingston Mines, he was a tough guy for real and Mamet’s muse

April 21, 2020 at 12:19 p.m.

Jack Wallace may not have attained the flashy stardom and big money success of some of his contemporaries from the formative days of our now legendary local theater scene. But...

The Arcade Building at 35th Street and State Street (on loan from Illinois Institute of Technology Archives) and Binga State Bank, Capital Stock Shares, 1920, on display at "Raw Material: Uncovering Chicago's Historical Collections" at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago in 2015.

Chicago banker Jesse Binga opened doors for fellow African Americans and once was the king of State Street. Now he’s forgotten.

April 20, 2020 at 1:00 a.m.

Of all the Chicago names to have faded away, to be buried by history's dust, Jesse Binga's is among the most baffling. That is because for a time "in the...

Michael McCarthy, the ‘SNL’ veteran and Second City member, is dead at 61

April 11, 2020 at 4:59 p.m.

Though he shared stages at the Second City with talented folks who would go on to become stars — Steven Carell and Amy Sedaris among them — Michael Clayton McCarthy...

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