@rickkogan.bsky.social
When Ann Landers came to the Tribune, Mike Royko happily said, "Now, all those wackos who’ve been writing to me with their problems can write to her.” Now, with Dear Abby retiring, where are those wackos to go? www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/05/a...
Column: After ‘Dear Abby’s’ retirement, where are all the people getting their advice?
A look at the history of the “Ann Landers” and “Dear Abby,” two popular advice columns run by twin sisters.
chicagotribune.com
Geraldine de Haas, dead at 91, was a jazz giant thanks to her stunning performances and as a passionate promoter and producer of jazz programs and events that changed the cultural face of the city. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/05/j...
The ‘first lady of Chicago jazz,’ Geraldine de Haas dies at 91
Along with being a talented singer in her own right, she was a tireless advocate for jazz in Chicago. A tribute concert for Duke Ellington she helped put on in Grant Park in 1974 became the foundation...
chicagotribune.com
Chris Vallillo has been playing music and writing songs on the rural road for a long time and he brings his stunning new show to the big city this weekend. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/04/f...
Column: What is ‘Forgottonia’ and how did it get to Steppenwolf?
Musician and storyteller Chris Vallillo presents the history of what happened when 16 counties in Western Illinois decided to secede from the Union in 1972.
chicagotribune.com
In two new books, by Colin Asher and Irvine Welsh, we visit those 'Trainspotting" lads as well as Johnny Cash, Leadbelly and also the great Chicago writers Nelson Algren and Don De Grazia. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/29/n...
Column: Reconnecting with authors Colin Asher and Irvine Welsh, both with new books
Colin Asher’s “The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music” and Irvine Welsh’s “Men in Love” were recent subjects in the New York Times Book Review.
chicagotribune.com
The Fine Arts building get a new tenant, a ground floor coffee shop named Groundswell, run by a former baseball pitcher and evoking good memories of the bygone Artists Cafe. Online now and in print Sunday. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/14/f...
Column: Groundswell Coffee is the Fine Arts Building’s new, caffeine-laced tenant
As Groundswell Coffee Roasters opens in the storied Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue, we remember the former Artists Cafe.
chicagotribune.com
Booze and creativity have always mixed, sometimes uneasily. But a new art exhibition, "Cash Only," shows the beauty and community that can come from that species of tavern known as the dive bar. Have a look and read all about it here: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/08/c...
Column: ‘Cash Only’ exhibit mixes booze and art and makes community
“Cash Only: An Ode to Dive Bars” is a provocative exhibition at a gallery called Art City.
chicagotribune.com
You can celebrate the country's 250th in a lot of ways. Fireworks all over. Or visit a Dairy Queen and have a “Stars & Stripes Misty Slush Float” for $2.50. Or you can listen to a radio segment about our city and its history. Read all about it here: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/01/t...
Column: Celebrating history on the Fourth? Look and listen to the river.
A recently rebroadcast episode of “This American Life” takes a look at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.
chicagotribune.com
"The rich are different from you and me" Fitzgerald once told us in a story. And they were able to start living in luxury apartments, a new book tells us, shortly after the Chicago Fire, and some of those places are still around. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/30/c...
Column: New Chicago book shows us the beginnings of our city’s luxury in the sky
There has always been an energetic curiosity about how the “other half” lives, so I asked the authors of “Chicago’s Luxury Apartment Buildings” why.
chicagotribune.com
Forget those goofy, manic TV shows and other misconceptions and take a trip into the fascinating pawn shop world with this happily married couple, Albena Wozny and Brad Prendergast www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/24/d...
Column: The Devon Pawn Shop tells its own part of the story of the American Dream
The small business in Rogers Park has for decades operated a service unlike those seen in such TV shows as “Pawn Stars.”
chicagotribune.com
The photo will certainly give you more than a hint about who won but don't let that prevent you from reading about the weird and silly and over-served night that Donny fought Danny and more than 2000 people watched. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/23/d...
Column: Do you remember who won the Danny Bonaduce-Donny Osmond boxing match?
On Jan. 17, 1994, Danny Bonaduce and Donny Osmond faced off in a three-round fight at the China Club in the West Loop.
chicagotribune.com
And here is the obituary the one and only Tom Dreesen, child of suburban Harvey, Sinatra's opening act, a kind hearted man with a million pals. Gift link: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/17/c...
Comedian Tom Dreesen, from suburban Harvey and Sinatra’s opening act, has died at 86
Comedian Tom Dreesen, from south suburban Harvey, grew up poor and first found comedy when he partnered with Tim Reid in an interracial duo. He later became Sinatra’s longtime opening act and close fr...
chicagotribune.com
And here is the obituary the one and only Tom Dreesen, child of suburban Harvey, Sinatra's opening act, a kind hearted man with a million pals. Gift link: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/17/c...
Comedian Tom Dreesen, from suburban Harvey and Sinatra’s opening act, has died at 86
Comedian Tom Dreesen, from south suburban Harvey, grew up poor and first found comedy when he partnered with Tim Reid in an interracial duo. He later became Sinatra’s longtime opening act and close fr...
chicagotribune.com
Tom Dreesen, child of Harvey, friend to millions, opening act for a guy named Sinatra, superb golfer, softest touch in show biz and just a damn fine guy has died at 86. Obituary coming in Tribune soon.
Tattoo artist Ben Wahhh is helping women erase some of the nightmares of their pasts, turning their "brandings" into things of beauty, "transforming lives by transforming skin.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/17/t...
Column: A Chicago tattoo artist helps women erase their past
Tattoo artist Ben Wahhh has founded Ink Relief, a charity that supports survivors of domestic violence and other painful pasts by providing cover-up tattoos.
chicagotribune.com
Okay, stop worrying! Yes, Dave Jemilo has sold the Green Mill, one of the greatest nightclubs on Earth, but it's staying "all in the family." You can meet the new owners in this story. They will, Marc Smith says, "keep the dive the beloved dive it is.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/10/c...
Column: The Green Mill has new owners, and the music plays on
The celebrated Chicago jazz club’s longtime owner, Dave Jemilo, has sold it to Jason Cole and Jill Skintges, both Green Mill employees who say they plan to keep running it the same way he did.
chicagotribune.com
The Bears will find a place to play before planes fly at Peotone. The story of the decades' long fight for and against a 'third airport' is told in a new movie. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/09/h...
Column: ‘Holding Pattern’ is about the decades-long debate over an airport in Peotone
New documentary tells the story of a proposed south suburban airport, an elusive dream for some, a nightmare for others.
chicagotribune.com
For that jukebox in your head, these two have crafted a remarkable CD with 11 songs, the familiarity of which enriches the listening. Without words, we supply the lyrics, but also listen more intently and the music soars on guitar and cello.” For that www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/03/a...
Column: If you have a jukebox in your head, you should listen to Michael Miles and Jill Kaeding
Michael Miles and Jill Kaeding’s new album, “Great American Jukebox,” has 11 songs and echoes of the Great American Songbook.
chicagotribune.com
This happy couple, Judith Barnard and Michael Fain, who split their time between Aspen and Chicago, wrote novels together under the Judith Michael and sold millions of copies. She died early in May after 94 fruitful years. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/02/c...
Column: Remembering Chicago’s Judith Barnard, half of a bestselling novelist team
She and her husband Michael Fain wrote together as Judith Michael, and their novels were runaway bestsellers. The first became an NBC miniseries.
chicagotribune.com
No "After Hours" this Sunday, as we take a break while a couple of new shows move into that vaunted 5-7 pm timeslot. WGN would like to continue its long, very long, relationship with and so much for me to learn before we launch or crash. I will keep you posted.
Tim O'Malley was one of the most naturally funny people this city has ever known, memorable as a performer and teacher at The Second City. He was also a man who used some of his own experiences to help and inspire others. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/26/c...
Column: Remembering Tim O’Malley, a big comedic talent with an even bigger heart
He shared the Second City Mainstage with Bonnie Hunt, Tim Meadows, Bob Odenkirk and Chris Farley, later becoming a teacher and leading a program for fellow addicts.
chicagotribune.com
@KoganAfterHours 5-7 pm Sunday @WGNRadio brings you Della Leavitt on her fine novel, “Vivian’s Decision," @dellaleavitt; tattoo artist Ben Wahhh on efforts to help domestic violence survivors @DeluxeTattoo and @inkrelief; music and a Royko leller about Sam Sianis.
Two new burger books by George Motz and Maggie Hennessy are great. But asked long ago why we are a country that is nuts for burgers, the late Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat put it, with brilliant simplicity, “People like them because they’re good.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/20/h...
Column: These books spread the gospel about the simple hamburger
Chicago writer Maggie Hennessy’s first book is “Hamburger Bible.” George Motz wrote the cross-country odyssey “Hamburger America.”
chicagotribune.com
Two new burger books by George Motz and Maggie Hennessy are great. But asked long ago why we are a country that is nuts for burgers, the late Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat put it, with brilliant simplicity, “People like them because they’re good.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/20/h...
Column: These books spread the gospel about the simple hamburger
Chicago writer Maggie Hennessy’s first book is “Hamburger Bible.” George Motz wrote the cross-country odyssey “Hamburger America.”
chicagotribune.com
Julian Frazin was admired for his legal skills as an attorney and judge over his long life. But it was his creative entertainment gifts and energy that made him most admired and unforgettable. Here's a gift link: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/19/r...
Column: Remembering Julian Frazin, a lawyer, judge and creative dynamo
Along with a career as a judge and attorney, he wrote “Miracle — the Musical” about the Cubs, as well as songs and children’s books, and contributed to the annual holiday show by the Chicago Bar Assoc...
chicagotribune.com
@KoganAfterHours is one hour Sunday, 6-7 pm @WGNRadio and brings you Frank Maugeri, artistic director of Cabinet of Curiosity, Sonya Henderson (founder of Mother’s Healing Circle) and others to talk about “Honor Thy Mother” Saturday 8-11 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Chicago
Sam Sianis has died at 91. He was one of a kind and the hardest worker you could ever meet and a man who handled the considerable Billy Goat fame and curse with style and grace...and that smile. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/15/s...
Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat, Chicago’s most famous saloonkeeper, dies at 91
Sam Sianis, a Greek immigrant who became one of the most successful saloonkeepers and a popular figure in the sports and media worlds, died in Chicago early Friday morning. He was 91.
chicagotribune.com
Sam Sianis has died at 91. He was one of a kind and the hardest worker you could ever meet and a man who handled the considerable Billy Goat fame and curse with style and grace...and that smile. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/15/s...
Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat, Chicago’s most famous saloonkeeper, dies at 91
Sam Sianis, a Greek immigrant who became one of the most successful saloonkeepers and a popular figure in the sports and media worlds, died in Chicago early Friday morning. He was 91.
chicagotribune.com
Memorial Day 1981, Dan Goodwin, aka Spider-Dan, climbed into city's sky, saying “If I was going to die, I was going to die on my own terms.” He is alive and well, has a book, has beat cancer and tells Rick Kogan, “I felt like I was floating in space.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/13/r...
Column: Remembering when Dan Goodwin, aka Spider-Dan, touched Chicago’s sky
In 1981, the climber Dan Goodwin made himself part of Chicago’s history by climbing both the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building. He has a new memoir.
chicagotribune.com
As rain whipped the park across the street, Garry Trudeau told me, “Writing cartoons is a very solitary profession, a very monastic existence.” The first major biography of this shy man is coming very soon. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/12/c...
Column: Ready to travel into the secret life of Garry Trudeau and ‘Doonesbury’?
A biography delves into the private life of the “Doonesbury” cartoonist. We spent a day together in New York decades ago.
chicagotribune.com
Joining Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks, Scott Turow, Stuart Dybek, Sara Paretsky, and other powerful writers, Patti Smith, born during a Chicago blizzard, will become a Harold Washington Literary Award. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/12/p...
Chicago-born Patti Smith is the winner of this year’s Harold Washington Literary Award
Singer and author Patti Smith will return to Chicago in September to accept the award before the 41st annual Printers Row Lit Fest.
chicagotribune.com