FROM NOVEMBER 1991: After 33 years in Congress and facing his toughest race in decades, Dan Rostenkowski may be feeling his political mortality at last. But he’s the same fierce, engaging, conflicted man who rose from the streets of the Northwest Side to the peaks of Capitol Hill
FROM JUNE 1996: He was tough, powerful, and unrepentant, even after admitting he had broken the law. A veteran Washington correspondent assesses the perplexing career of Dan Rostenkowski
Last March, I met Dan Rostenkowski for lunch at Mitchell’s on Clybourn Avenue. Here, some highlights of our conversation, which covered more than 50 years of local and national politics and included his thoughts on Mayor Daley, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and more…
A FRIENDSHIP IN WINTER: How a 34-year-old high-school dropout and recovering alcoholic found inspiration and a buddy in the irascible, imperious Dan Rostenkowski, the fallen political giant
In 1855, the city embarked on a far-fetched scheme to hoist itself out of the mud and gunk. On the 155th anniversary of the project’s launch, we take a lively illustrated look back.
Yesterday, I ran excerpts of my conversation with Kirk’s ex-wife, Kimberly Vertolli, in which she discussed the “Svengali figure” behind his campaign, Dodie McCracken. Here, Vertolli offers her take on what would seem to be Kirk’s perplexingly unnecessary exaggerations. She adds that, despite some missteps in his campaign, in the race between Kirk and Giannoulias, she would vote for her ex…
Her marriage to Rep. Mark Kirk (R-10th Dist.) may have ended amicably in June 2009, and the two may remain friends today, but Kimberly Vertolli said that she will not “advocate” for her ex in his Senate run because she fears he is too influenced by a “Svengali figure” in his life—a former staffer named Dorothy “Dodie” McCracken…
When Dan and Debbie Greenberg’s son was born with a deadly genetic disorder, the Homewood couple vigorously campaigned to help find the cause, even donating autopsy samples after he died. Eventually, the doctor they assisted uncovered the lethal gene—and then, to the Greenbergs’ amazement, quietly patented it. Now they are suing, in a case being closely watched by the booming biotech industry
We talk to the energy company exec about politics, nukes, and climate change
MATERIOUS: Stephanie and Bruce Tharp put a domestic twist on design
