As a teen living in Winnetka, Ryan O’Donnell practically pulled a hamstring muscle each time his mother/cooking instructor, Beth, started to welcome eight cooking students into the O’Donnell household for…
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Family Flanagan
A North Shore homeowner seeks to sell and move to the city. Another sets out to pull up stakes in Chicago and relocate to, say, Winnetka. An ideal first…
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Hear, Hear
The stack of Chris Hrabe’s notes for one of his early New Trier High School radio broadcasts on WNTH neared the height of Mont Blanc. The Wilmette native was…
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Community Strong
Brian Wallach was late for the first date with his future wife, Sandra Abrevaya. A good hour late. At the time, both were working for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential…
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Well Schooled Best In Class
A few framed photographs of Alex Sheridan’s late grandfather Henry Sheridan hang behind his desk at Lake Forest Country Day School (LFCDS). Henry, an immigrant from Vienna, Austria, changed his…
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Comics Central
Big Shoulders. Al Capone, Michael Jordan, and the 1985 Bears. The ‘L’ train system. Lincoln Park Zoo’s cubs and Wrigley Field’s Cubs. Navy Pier. You think of Chicago, you think…
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‘Spek’-Tacular Construction
Karl Spektor’s 21-year-old company, MOD Construction, and 11-year-old son, Brooklyn, have something in common: Both are “batting” 1.000. “Brooklyn,” Spektor insists, “has never had a bad day in his life….
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Iron Will
Two women, two arduous journeys. Lois Gibbons’ trek began with a cancer diagnosis in 2018. Her daughter Kate Neal’s journey began shortly thereafter, with a commitment to train for her…
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A Faithful Leader
Whenever Kenneth A. Mines is anywhere near his grandsons Chase, 13, and Dylan, 11, the former civil rights attorney and forever civil rights leader must think, “Life does not get…
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A Circuitous Route from Iraq to Illinois
Good thing the taxicab driver that smuggled Dr. Rami Taha out of war-torn Iraq stashed Taha’s duffel bag near the cab’s engine. Had the hired smuggler simply placed the luggage…
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