The View from My Window

Looking south from my 11th-floor office in the Tribune Tower, I can see Pioneer Court, the Michigan Avenue Bridge, and a string of stylish skyscrapers. But perched above the spot where Chicago began, it’s also easy to pick up intimations of the city’s past.

Start Your Own . . . Franchise

Finding the right job-or any job at all-can be tough these days.   Then there's the falling ax of downsizing. What to do? You might think about joining the growing number of people who are buying franchise businesses. Peter Birkeland, a local consultant and author of Franchising Dreams, sees more and more would-be entrepreneurs and … Read more

Shore Patrol

While scouring the long stretch from Jackson Park up to Hollywood Beach, we discovered some of the lakefront’s native dwellers. Meet the characters, photographed last year, who make our shore more than just a pretty place

Heartbreak Hotel

Only a few years after J. W. Stevens opened his grand Michigan Avenue hotel, the Depression devastated his family, inducing a series of calamities that included suicide, bankruptcy, and criminal charges. But from the debacle of the Stevens Hotel (now Chicago Hilton and Towers) emerged a young man who today, at 86, sits on the U.S. Supreme Court

Feeling the Heat

Many scientists cite world-impacting weather phenomena—melting glaciers, vanishing snowcaps—as proof of a warming planet. But what does that mean for Chicago?

Spotted at O’Hare

Like many of the other good men and women profiled in this year’s “Solo Acts” article, I live a pretty public life. As a theatre director, writer, and artistic director, stories about my work get published whenever there’s a cool new play, and I’ve gotten accustomed to it. But nothing could be stranger than the … Read more