Doretha was a soft-spoken woman with a velvety tenor voice. When she first introduced herself to our downtown Chicago memoir-writing class, she came right out and explained why she’d signed up. “My therapist told me to come.” We didn’t hear another word from Doretha for four or five weeks. She came to class, but she […]

Growing up, World War II was in the movies, on TV and in our classrooms. It felt close. Everywhere. I knew my dad had served in the war, as had his three brothers, uncles on my mom’s side, neighbors. It fascinated me, it was exotic, a grand adventure. It was scary but not really scary […]

I practiced with Whitney ahead of time, so when the Dukes of Distinction presentation started Thursday night, we knew exactly what to do: follow fellow distinguished alum Dr. Robert Chen (“I go by Bob, he said when we were introduced) down the red carpet, stop when Bob stops, and pivot 90 degrees to the left […]

Tomorrow’s the big day. Every year York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois honors a number of distinguished alumni, and six other York alumni will be honored along with me at a ceremony in York High School’s Commons tomorrow night. York is the “home of the Dukes,” so honorees are officially called Dukes of Distinction. […]

I don’t know about you, but the election campaigns have me exhausted. Back in 2012 Illinois really wasn’t in play in the presidential election, and there weren’t particularly hot, high-profile races, so we got off easy. Not so this time. The governor’s race is a dead heat, and there are some house races in play. […]