Month: July 2019

I put up two very different stories the last few days. One was on Jimmy Terry, a forgotten working-class daredevil who performed one of the craziest stunts in Chicago history. The other was on race in Chicago in 1919, revealed through the letters of two soldiers from the South Side. I also saw the premiere of the new Eastland documentary, which incorporated long-lost footage I found in two archives. It is really great film–I hope that you check it out. Finally, Chicago Magazine chose my Twitter account for their Best of Chicago issue!

I recently wrote a wee piece for Chicago Magazine on the work of Ferd Himme, whose extraordinarily corny cartoons graced the employee magazine of the Chicago Transit Authority from the late Forties to the early Seventies. My latest Sightseeing piece for the Chicago Reader involves Mayor Richard J. Daley’s crazy scheme to place a major airport in Lake Michigan, miles from shore.