It was a Friday night in the fall of 1977. I was a junior in the journalism program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Earlier, I’d gotten an essay exam back during one of my hardest—and favorite classes. I aced it. So, that afternoon, off I went to happy hour at a campustown joint […]

A week ago today we learned that a very, very dear friend passed away. Janet Smith, who was also a neighbor, had staved off ovarian cancer for nearly two years. Janet was a tenured professor in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). But that’s just a title. She […]

A few years back I posted about how we often anoint wunderkinds as “creators” of a new technology. The point was that scientific and technological advance reflects collaboration, not wunderkinds. That every advancement is sort of a collective milestone in the eternal scientific drive to learn more and do things better. Right now the commercials […]

I’m as fatigued as everyone else when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. The omicron variant news made a lot of people feel like we’re starting over again. But, for a glass-half-empty kinda guy, I’m optimistic that we have the spiky little pest on the run. I know that runs counter to news about […]

Hey Y’all, Sorry I’ve been absent the last couple weeks. The first week I just was worn out … work and life had  been hectic. The second week … um, I just forgot. Even Beth forgot, and she’s usually the one that keeps me on my toes. And now we’re in holiday mode. Despite omicron […]