Myrna Knepler enrolled in my memoir-writing class after retiring from teaching at Northeastern Illinois University. Having a smart woman like her as a student could have been intimidating, but Myrna is so sweet, so patient and so downright fun that you just can’t be nervous around her. Plus she has a terrific laugh! Myrna saw […]
When I interview someone over the phone for a story I’m writing, I always tell the person on the other end that the conversation is being recorded. I don’t always tell them I’m blind, though. And so it went when I interviewed Michael Miles. Miles was program director at Chicago’s legendary Old Town School of […]
Chicago Public Radio titled the essay Writer Beth Finke Goes from Teacher to Student, and aired it as a back-to- school piece. If you missed hearing it on the radio, you can listen to it online here. A clue to those of you who are as much of a computer nincompoop as I am: in […]
In honor of our infamous Illinois ex-governor, the topic for my memoir-writing students last Wednesday was “guilty.” Hanna, the matriarch of our class, came back with an essay that was, in a word, stunning. You might remember Hanna from a previous blog post. Hanna grew up in Germany. Her family was Jewish, and Hanna escaped […]
The Yankees come to Chicago this weekend, and like always, I’m rooting for my White Sox to sweep ‘em. I must admit, though, that a story on espn.com this week has left me with a soft spot for those Damn Yankees. Last Tuesday Manager Joe Girardi and pitchers David Robertson, Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberlain […]