Marian McPartland in Chicago
Aug 212013
May 052012
In Chicago, Walker’s Restaurant stood across the road from the former site of The Selig Polyscope Studios where the first Wizard of Oz Films were made. The true story of how Walker’s came to be or where it went is a story that has yet to be told.
Apr 112012
Nanci Koschman, hope, power, my foolish heart, bill evans
Apr 012012
Trayvon Little brother strolls North from shimmering sun kissed palms To a new Jerusalem of icy prairie winds. Anchored by a tower built tall From the dusty bricks of time. Trayvon Little brother strolls inside. Starts to climb Then stops fast. His view His window spilling out grand on to A sweeping golden sunrise Streaks […]
Mar 122012
On a warm, windy March afternoon, Keisha is wrestling an overstuffed laundry bag almost as big as she is down to the bus stop on Chicago Avenue. It’s Sunday. Reduced bus service. So she has a 15-20 minute wait. And Sunday is the only day free to make the ¾ mile trip west across the […]
Feb 182012
Measuring public corruption is useful. But so is looking out your window. And if the Mayor of Chicago were to look out the window of his home at around 7:30 on any even given morning. Or perhaps walk one block west to Ravenswood Avenue. He’d see Cassie. She walks by my house too. The connection […]
Feb 092012
Racism you can see. VS Racism you can’t see.
Jan 062012
There was talk of a movie, starring Humphrey Bogart, after the “Ball Bearing” mission to Sweden was completed and Hitler’s war machine was dealt a crippling blow. Bogart was the name mentioned, in a Washington Times piece, as a likely candidate to play Stanton Griffis. A 57-year-old investment banker who was the central figure in […]
Jan 022012
A moment of hope.
Dec 202011
he Selig Polyscope Company was one of the very first movie studios in the country. Located on a 200 acre parcel in what is now a residential area of Chicago, Selig produced the first version of Chicago native L. Frank Baum’s ‘Wizard of Oz.” In the flickering candlelight, she sat rocking the baby at the […]