Curtain falls on the remarkable, theatrical life of Sulie Harand
The final curtain has fallen on Sulie Harand's act, and it's not likely to be reprised by a younger chanteuse. The stage set was struck long before her death last...
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Nose-holding voters are key to this election
Political mavens say elections are determined by voters in the middle: those who are uncommitted to either candidate at the beginning of the campaign but make a choice when they...
50 years ago: MLK’s march in Marquette Park turned violent, exposed hate
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped out of a car in Marquette Park on Aug. 5, 1966, he was met by a crowd in an ugly mood. That was...
Trump rings death knell for the WASP
Win or lose in November, Donald Trump will have delivered some painful body blows to the Republican Party, the last bastion of America's WASP elite. Traditionally, the GOP has been...
Thrill of the 6-day race: When endurance cycling was the sport to watch
Long before Babe Ruth filled baseball parks and Red Grange thrilled football fans, six-day bicycle racers were America's sports heroes. Their admirers were passionate, sometimes to a fault. In 1896,...
The third-party run of 1936: Union Party barely unified in fight to oust Roosevelt
With many voters desperate for an alternative to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, it should be noted that third parties can generate more heat than...
Cops have changed over time, but they still run toward the gunfire
Why in the world would anyone want to be a cop? With the recent assassination of five Dallas police officers, many of us must be asking that question, for which...
University of Illinois at Navy Pier opened in 1946 to serve WWII veterans
Please join its alumni in a chorus or two of alma mater in honor of Navy Pier's slapdash repurposing 70 years ago as a poor outpost of the University of...
Requiem for a hot beef sandwich
Occasionally I feel a need to eat something nonartisanal. No, that's not quite right. I'm perpetually beset by lip-smacking memories of simply prepared, simply named food. Like, say, a hot-beef...
If the state of our union seems imperiled this July 4th, look back to 1776
If some of us are less than upbeat on the eve of this Fourth of July, it's understandable. For months, the headlines have been depressing. In December, a Muslim terrorist...