Mike Royko is dead?!

[NightTrain]

When the hell did he die? And why didn't I hear about it? :shrug:

[Jack_Dawson]

1. So is Bob Hope n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

3. And Thomas Jefferson...

Oddly enough, I never saw it in LBN, either... :evilgrin:

[Richardo]

2. 1997

Royko worked for a number of Chicago papers before joining the Chicago Tribune staff, where since 1984 he wrote a column that became syndicated nationwide. He was an admired though sometimes controversial commentator on local and national issues, always concerned with the plight of working-class people. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize (1972), The National Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award (1990), and the Damon Runyon Award (1995). Royko wrote an unauthorized biography of Mayor Richard J. Daley (Boss, 1971) and published collections of his own writings.

Died: 4/29/97


"Boss" was the first political book I ever read. Still one of the best. He also wrote some of the funniest feature pieces I ever read, until the advent of Dave Barry. I miss him.

[Chicago Democrat]

4. I used to deliver The Chicago Daily News when I was 12

and I always read his column. That was when Chicago had 3 or 4 real newspapers. In his old age he became a cantankerous old bastard, but he usually had something interesting to say.

[NightTrain]

10. Well, that explains it.

For much of 1997, I was going through a lot of personal crap and didn't really pay attention to the news. That's why Royko's death slipped by me.

I only mentioned it at all because one of today's DU articles referred to "the late, great Mike Royko." Until I read that, I hadn't even thought of Royko in years!

[leftofthedial]

5. yep

Ring Lardner died too I heard.

[Az]

6. So is Mark Twain

Despite what he may have said about the rumors being false.

[CBHagman]

7. This is why I read the obits first thing each morning.

You never know who you're going to find there.

[salinen]

8. He died

but he's recovering nicely.

[Nailzberg]

9. And he is missed, John Kass isn't fit to wipe his table at the Billy Goat.

I don't mean to be harsh, I'm speaking relatively. No one can fill the space left on Tribune's page two.

I read the Ciccone's biography "Royko: A Life in Print" last fall as research on a screenplay. Incredible book. From the epilogue
It is doubtful that in the current or foreseeable future a single writer will be able to raise the public outcry, influence the electorate, ridicule the powerful, and defend the weak the way Royko did so well for so long. He was no only the best. He was the last.