Features

Wish You Were Here
If crowds of people get you down, consider these alternatives to the season’s main events – for the best in against-the-flow summer fun.

The Far Shore
by Gretchen Reynolds
How Harbor Country, Michigan, is grappling with its sudden success

One-day Wonders
by Gale Kappe and Jeanne Rattenbury
Riding the South Shore line to the Indiana Dunes; brunching on the Rock River; a reverie among roses at the Botanic Garden

Splendor in the Grass
by Anne Spiselman and David Novick
When the urge to eat al fresco hits you hard, here are picnic spots worth a special trip – and seven great places to fill that basket

Scenes from a Mall
by Chris Vartanian
The air-conditioned comforts of shopping make it many people’s favorite warm-weather sport.

Shaking the Foundation
by Brenda Shapiro
As president, Adele Simmons has brought a new order of civility to the once-fractions MacArthur Foundation – and devised better ways to spend billions.

Return to Riverview
by Bob Daily
Playwright John Logan and artistic director Bob Falls take the legendary amusement park to the stage at the Goodman.

At Home
by Penelope Mesic and Dan Santow
A suburban garden flourishes with the windswept sounds and scents of ornamental grasses and blooms. A guide to nearby nurseries helps you grow your own.

Departments

Letters

Frontlines
Soap lore, a campy store, and more, much more; Scoops du Jour, by Carla Kelson
Art Works
by Henry Hanson
Big moves for the broadcast museum and theatrefest

Prime Time
Hot dates around town this month

Metro
by Jeanne Rattenbury
Will community policing work in Chicago? A look at a North Side experiment – and its mixed results

Media
by James Ylisela, Jr.
The Great Chicago Flood tested the press and TV.

Chicago Woman
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
The members of the Women’s Issues Network play to WIN social change.

Movies
by Penelope Mesic
Media Incorporated, a leading video distributor, quality is a commodity.

Theatre
by Anthony Adler
Transcending the mess of life in All Souls Day

Real Estate

by Dennis Rodkin
A Rockford-area country house is barn again. Plus, recent residential sales

Dining
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Passage to India: three moderately priced routes to sensual, exotic Indian cuisine; Budget Beat, by David Novick

Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
Lois Wille, Jean Allard, Ogden Nash, Bright Sheng, Lester Fisher, Ivana Trump, Dan Terra