Features
Where the Wild Things Are
Think the Midwest is tame? Think again and proceed with caution. Our correspondents have sought out the willfully eccentric, the weird, the that’s-incredible – people, places, and things to shock and surprise you. So knock back a cocktail called the Shark Bite and get into the swim.
Promise in a War Zone
by Mark Jannot
The builders of the new United Center thought they would meet no opposition from the residents of the poverty-ridden Near West Side. They were wrong. A case study in how a neighborhood can assert – and rebuild – itself.
A Touch of Glass
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
National Public Radio’s Ira Glass knows all kinds of magic tricks, and with several pilots in the works for a new show, he’s on the brink of becoming a hip kind of Garrison Keillor.
Till Death Do Us Part
by Gera-Lind Kolarik
Lawyer Richard Kagan thought it would be easy to divorce his wife. When she fought back, he tried to have her killed. Both times, he badly underestimated Margaret Kagan.
As Time Goes By
photography by Tom Maday
You must remember this – forties-style elegance gets jazzed up in fabrics for the nineties. This spring, designers offer fresh takes on an old tune.
Departments
Letters
Frontlines
Syd Straw sings; Paul Stuart settles the store; and Stephen Serpas stages shows.
The Goods
by Leah Eskin
For the birds: a Bauhaus aviary, a gourmet seed bar, art and objects that fly high
Metro
by Greg Hinz
Rumors of gossip’s demise; plus, a city school second to none
Modern Times
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
The elusive Patrick is a Have Style, Will Travel sidekick-for-hire.
Stage & Screen
by Penelope Mesic
Charles Newell juggles Travesties and The Misanthrope, in rep at Court.
Media
by Barry Rice
Meet the woman behind Seven Weeks to Better Sex, a new book for couples who can’t wait to get into her suburban clinic.
Prime Time
Hot dates around town this month
Dining
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Successful Lettuce Entertain You restaurants seem to be everywhere, but is this dining empire stretching itself too thin?
Budget Beat
by Anne Spiselman
When is a café not just a café? When it’s a bakery, too. Four spots combine Old World charm, casual meals, and delicious desserts.
Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
Dorothy Fuller, John Robert Wiltgen, Bobbie and Louis Goldblatt, William van Straaten, Jack Lemon, Louis Armstrong, Studs Terkel