A half century of award-winning journalism, from best feature story of 1974 (Chicago Newspaper Guild) to more than half-a-dozen consecutive annual column and profile honors (Northern Illinois News Association).
‘From Up On Poppy Hill’: Simple and Beautiful
Evanston RoundTable, April 11, 2013 Drawings may be the oldest art form we know – consider the cave paintings – yet in movies, like Rodney Dangerfield, they don’t always get much
Embarrassed by Founder, City of Evanston Now Claims It is Named for Famed TV Cowgirl
Evanston RoundTable, March 28, 2013
This was my contribution to our annual April Fools’ Day issue. (Leonard F. Slye was Roy Rogers’ real name.) The published story deleted most of the specifics in the fourth and fifth paragraphs to the controversy, which are true.
By Leo F. Slye
With mounting pressure to repudiate John Evans for his role in a notorious Indian massacre years after helping put Evanston on the map, the City Council last week issued a media advisory saying the real namesake of the City was none other than Dale Evans, famed TV cowgirl and wife of the even more famous TV cowboy Roy Rogers.
Ms. Evans, who passed away in 2001, could not be reached for comment, but the advisory pointed out that the actress was also an accomplished, singer, songwriter and best-selling author. From 1951 to 1957 she co-starred with her husband in the TV hit “The Roy Rogers Show.” “As to this other Evans, the one who arrived here in 1855, where is the proof [he also founded the City]?” the advisory asked.
The surprising action was taken shortly after the City Council went into a closed-door emergency session to deliberate, after which white smoke could be seen emanating from the building’s chimney. Neither the Mayor nor any Aldermen could be reached to elaborate on their somewhat-cryptic announcement.
On Reading Proust For Book Club
“On Reading Proust” is a hybrid: except for the incidents at the Y, it is all true. Call it creative non-fiction. Or Proustian.
Our public library sponsors an annual citywide book club called Mission Impossible, so named because only the most impossible-to-read classics are selected. What’s an impossible-to-read classic? One that by reputation is too big, too abstract or too abstruse to comprehend or enjoy. Think Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. Or as Mark Twain said, a classic is “a book which people praise and don’t read.” But often these books are wonderfully readable, with the right help, and that is what the library provides in the form of an excellent introductory lecture and subsequent breakout discussion groups led by trained facilitators.
The first year the library made the obvious and preemptive choice: Joyce’s Ulysses. Of the 150 or so people who signed up, about a third actually made it to the end, nine months later. That is a phenomenal batting average as far as I’m concerned, having made it only to page 5. . . .
“No” and “Life of Pi” Reviewed
Evanston RoundTable, March 28, 2013 There are some vexing incongruities and problems that hamper “No,” the Chilean film starring Gael Garcia Bernal as Rene, a young ad executive recruited to
Review of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and ‘Flight’
Evanston RoundTable, March 14, 2013 There’s a lot that’s troubling about “Zero Dark Thirty,” perhaps the least of which is the controversy – which ultimately embroiled Congress in hearings –
Author Shaped by Evanston Scores with Debut Novel
Evanston RoundTable, March 14, 2013 Like many first-time writers, Matt Henderson Ellis’s first novel, “Keeping Bedlam At Bay in the Prague Café” is heavily drawn from his own experience –
‘Amour’: Art as Dark and Deep As Life
Evanston RoundTable, Feb. 14, 2013 Art is what makes beauty out of ugliness, renders despair into acceptance, and creates order and understanding from chaos. Without art, life would be hard
Kelly Amonte Hiller: LaCrosse’s Winningest Coach
Evanston RoundTable, Jan. 31, 2013 Kelly Amonte Hiller’s office in Patten Gym on the Northwestern campus is casual and spare. There are few plaques and photos on the wall. Her
Review of “Silver Linings Playbook”
Evanston RoundTable Jan. 17, 2013 There’s a line comedies can cross over, sometimes into stupidity, sometimes into cruelty. Either way it’s rarely amusing. Such is the problem with “Silver Linings