Seems like Hanni and I had just returned home from that Youth Festival in Champaign when we found ourselves boarding a train again Monday morning. This time, our destination was Glencoe, IL. Librarian Melissa Henderson met us at the train station and led us to a local coffee shop for a snack before our morning […]

This sweet Letter to the Editor appeared in last Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. Love of life I enjoyed Beth Finke’s essay about Nancy Faust (“As the pipe organ melodies fade away,” Commentary, Sept. 28). Nancy must have been flattered to hear such praise from someone who relies on her music to stay in the game. Nancy […]

Whew! That Youth Literature Festival put on by the College of Education at the University of Illinois the past few days sure kept us busy. Hanni and I visited four classrooms Thursday, three classrooms Friday, and then attended an oo-la-la reception for guest authors Friday night. To cap off the festival, we gave two presentations […]

The teachers at Longfellow Elementary School in Oak Park had already read Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound out loud to their students before we arrived yesterday. Knowing the kids would already be well-versed in how a Seeing Eye dog works, then, I packed my white cane for the trip. In addition to showing off […]

There were so many fans surrounding Nancy Faust’s booth at her final game yesterday that the White Sox had to provide a bouncer. “She’ll visit with fans and sign autographs after the game,” he told us. “But she specifically asked us to stop by” “Are you a friend of hers?” I hesitated. Thought about it […]