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…
Read More
‘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….
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Corps Values
It’d be easy to start a full-page magazine piece about retired Marine Corps aviator Jim King with vivid descriptions of one of his 215 Vietnam War missions from 1969 to…
Read More
Proactive
The youngster who threw hay on her home ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains and ran tight spirals in a Powder Puff high school football game in California, now enjoys…
Read More
Bear Up
An 8 1⁄2-by-11-inch sheet of paper was Matt Nagy’s canvas in his youth. He did not use it to doodle. He did not use it (that would come later) to…
Read More
Hallmark of Hope
Boys Hope Girls Hope (BHGH) of Illinois Executive Board Chairman Jamie Baisley stood in a backyard in Evanston not too long ago, observing sheer joy emanating from teenagers and their…
Read More
Philanthropy And The First Lady
The 23-year-old Wall Street analyst sits across from a man at a table in a settlement house in New York, circa 1984. The analyst is a Yale University graduate and…
Read More
