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Tag: Writers – Bryan Smith
House of Cards
By Bryan Smith
Nine bright kids, two harried parents, and a table a few sizes too small made for a raucous dinnertime at the Murray home in Wilmette. Turns out, growing up amid the wisecracks provided the best training a comedian could hope for. Read more
Harry Schmidt's War
By Bryan Smith
In the fog of war high over Afghanistan, an Illinois National Guard pilot dropped a bomb that killed four Canadian soldiers engaged in live-fire exercises. Since then he has been vilified and stripped of his wings. Now he's telling his side of the story. Read more
Scott Skiles: Bull Buster
By Bryan Smith
Now that the team is respectable again, is the short-fused, sharp-tongued Skiles the right guy to lead the Bulls back to glory? Read more
The Strange Case of the Dentist and the Pimps
By Bryan Smith
Gary Kimmel seemed to be leading a dream life. A gregarious dentist and family man, he had a thriving downtown practice and a beautiful young wife and children. Then one day the FBI showed up and made some stunning allegations. Read more
The Nightmare: A Look at the Riley Fox Case
By Bryan Smith
Five months after three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington was brutally murdered, her father, Kevin, confessed following a long night with Will County detectives. He recanted almost immediately, but spent eight months in jail before DNA evidence led to his release. For the first time publicly, Kevin and his wife, Melissa, talk about their ordeal, an account of pain, mystery, and undying faith, wrapped around an enduring tragedy Read more
Betting Her Life
By Bryan Smith
Barbara Hermansen found happiness and fulfillment as a North Shore wife, mother, and lawyer—until she started taking a prescription drug for a neurological disorder. Then a trip to Las Vegas set off a crazed gambling addiction that almost brought her and her family down. Read more
Alice Clement: The Detective Wore Pearls
By Bryan Smith
When Chicago was a rowdy city of speakeasies and brothels, gangsters and con men, Alice Clement—police star 3428—ruled as the first female detective. But then, oddly, most traces of her disappeared, until even the police department had all but forgotten. Read more