Chicago Daily Observer

More than 20 years ago…when authorities were trying to hype Newberry Library funding…they scheduled a series of debates in adjoining Washington Park, known forevermore as “Bughouse Square.” Bughouse Square was, for decades, this town’s version of London’s Hyde Park where assorted philosophers, poets, madmen and fanatics would address roving crowds which would either heckle them, applaud wildly or drift away. I recall how on a date in 1952 with the girl I ultimately married, we listened raptly to one little man with a serious mien, trying to focus on what he said only to deduce that he was inveighing about pubic hair. Moderation of subjects such as intimate bodily distinctions was then verboten as Bughouse was regarded as composed of alma maters of universities (and the great municipal library nearby) which was devoted to good taste—and they properly heckled the guy off the stage.

Not so now when universities large ... Read More...

Studs Terkel, the Pulitzer Prize- winning author and enduring radio-show host whose oral histories chronicled the travails and triumphs of America’s working class, has died. He was 96.

Terkel died today at his home in Chicago, his son, Dan Terkel, said in an interview. “He just went very quickly and was in no pain at all,’’ Dan Terkel said. “He lived a very long, full, satisfying though sometimes impetuous life.’’

Born in New York, Terkel became synonymous with Chicago, the city where he moved at age 10 and rarely left. His parents ran a boarding house and a men’s hotel during the Great Depression, giving the young Terkel a steady diet of the struggles of ordinary people whose stories became his life’s work.

“People’s everyday experience can be as profound and as compelling as any celebrity,’’ said Russell Lewis, chief historian of the Chicago Historical Society, which houses many of ... Read More...

Ray Coffey covered the Vietnam War for nearly three years in the 1960s, marching through swamps with U.S. soldiers and winning journalism awards in the process. ( from Chicago Sun Times) Click my post title for the tribute to Ray Coffey.

Mr. Ray Coffey was a great friend to the kids of Leo High School for whom he always had time – to listen.

God bless you Holly Coffey! God bless all of your kids! God Bless the heart of Ray Coffey that made his ear the organ and conduit of truth in Chicago Journalism.

Ray Coffey ‘gave his ears a chance.’ That rule is lost on too many of us who want to hear the sounds of our own voices rather than articulate a means to bring people together. In America’s most divisive war – Vietnam – Ray Coffey turned his ears to voices of the kids taking the ... Read More...

I am sorry to announce the untimely death of Maureen Murphy at age 56 following a long illness. In a very short time…far too short a lifetime…she compiled an outstanding record of selfless service to her family, her church, to the pro-life movement and to government. She was: Republican State Representative from Illinois’ 36th district from 1993 to 1997, during which time she served as chairman of the House Revenue Committee…member of the Cook county Board of Review from 2002 to 2004, the first woman, first suburban resident, first Republican, to hold the post…Cook county Republican chairman from 2002 to 2004, then first woman to hold that post. She was Worth township Republican committeeman, previously serving on the Evergreen Park high school board (elected in 1982) and as Worth township clerk elected from 1985 to 1989. She was a lifelong resident of Evergreen Park.

Most important, at least to me, ... Read More...