Features
Rx for a Troubled City
The Great Flood and the Los Angeles riots were harsh reminders of the fragility of city life. Though Chicago seems to be soldiering forward with considerable aplomb, the problems ahead are enormous. We asked 20 prominent thinkers for advice on keeping the city on track.
The Scapegoat
by Dennis Rodkin
Acting transportation chief John LaPlante was the first to get axed when the flood hit the Loop and the Mayor had to find a fall guy.
Future Shockers
by Joseph Crump and Jeanne Rattenbury
The 21st century is around the corner, and ten local visionaries are beating a path to its door.
Outside In
by Mark Jannot
The world of outsider art is full of chicken bones and glitter, powerful intuition and pesky ethical questions. It’s becoming a very big deal, and many collectors are simply mad for it.
Smart Choices
by Bob Daily
Learn cartooning from a pro, tour an artist’s studio, cook vegetarian ribs, climb your family tree – 28 lively and enlightening adult education classes that will change your mind
Departments
Letters
Frontlines
Africans meet, Italians eat, an Asian sings the blues; Scoops du Jour, by Carla Kelson
Art Works
by Henry Hanson
Renoir’s apples, Puccini’s opera, the Pritzkers’ prize
Prime Time
Hot dates around town this month
Metro
by Gretchen Reynolds
What went wrong with the city’s big plans for developing the Chicago River?
Media
by Lisa Chase
Today’s WGN-TV: high ratings, steady cash flow, and an identity crisis
Chicago Woman
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
At the storybook wedding of TV news anchor Joan Esposito, the guests came and went in shifts.
Movies
by Penelope Mesic
The great expectations of summer vacation movies
Books
Larry Heinemann’s scamming con man; Grace Mark’s big city on the make
Theatre
by Anthony Adler
Questions of race take center stage.
Real Estate
by Dennis Rodkin
Loop living
Dining
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Three new hotel dining rooms forsake tradition. Budget Beat, by David Novick
Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
John Guare, Marlo Thomas, Studs Terkel, Saul Bellow