A few years ago Mike volunteered as a writing tutor with Open Books, a literacy program here in Chicago. Tutors and students did the exercises together, and when they were asked to write about a family member, Mike wrote about his sister Kris. He sent the essay off to her when it was finished. Two […]

Whitney met Hanni, the grand dame of Seeing Eye dogs, this week! The circumstances were not happy ones –we were in Urbana for a funeral. The meeting of the dogs helped take our minds off the sadness for a bit, though, and we were very grateful. I’ve been to two funerals the past couple weeks, […]

Mr. Peabody, set the wayback machine to 1986. After a year of weekly visits to read to a newly-blind woman, it’s time for University of Illinois senior John Foreman to graduate. John brings his girlfriend, a music performance major, along on his final visit, and when Lynn LaPlante pulls her viola from its case, the […]

It’s been a wild week, and I can’t think of a better way to unwind than to meet up with old friends to cook – and eat – together. That’s what Mike and I are doing tonight. We’re taking a hands-on class called “Small Bites, Big Party” with Chef Paul Lindemuth at Marcel’s Culinary Experience. […]

Here’s my husband Mike Knezovich with a book review. Sometimes when I’m at an airport, a hotel lobby, walking down a city street, in an elevator, I watch the humans and think: Really, we’re all monkeys. I learned there is some truth to that glib observation a few years ago when I wrote a freelance […]