Fanning the Flames: The Freedom Project Blog

4.26.2007

Indelible Ink

By Shawn Healy
The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum hosted an off-site program last evening in honor of famed Chicago journalist Mike Royko who died ten years ago this Sunday. A sold-out Chase Auditorium (533+) was entertained by close friend Rick Kogan and a cast of family, former colleagues, and lifelong allies.

Kogan began the evening by reading excerpts from Royko columns, concluding each segment with "Ladies and Gentlemen, the words of Mike Royko." As he completed his monologue, the balance of the cast took the stage and sat at tables meant to mimic those at the Billy Goat Tavern Mike helped make famous.

TV and print reporter Carol Marin was the first to speak. She reflected upon a childhood of reading four Chicago newspapers each day, and the scramble among her siblings at the dinner table for the Chicago Daily News. Royko's column was a resident on page 2. This spawned a career in journalism, and if her column in the Sun-Times yesterday is any indication, she did Mike proud. Marin ended by reading from Royko's column on the unveiling of the Picasso sculpture at City Plazea (since named after the venerable Mayor Richard J. Daley).

Marin was followed by Sam Royko, Mike's youngest son. Sam reflected upon his father's role of media watchdog and how these trying times demand more journalists in his father's mold. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune spoke next and acknowledged the 200-pound giant he carries on his back each and every day as the occupant of Mike's former place in the Chicago Tribune. He empathized with the difficulty that every columnist has in writing a daily piece, and chose Mike's obituary for a balloon salesman as a way of illustrating Royko's ability to make the exploits of the common man the stuff of legend.

Mike's oldest son David spoke about the strains that his famous career as a journalist placed upon his private life as a family man. Rarely did Mike ever mix the two, but David read from a rare column his father wrote about short-legged dogs and their travails when it snows. The object of this writing was his wife and their family pet.

Neil Giuntoli, the star of Hizzoner, arrived dressed the part of Royko's Boss, Mayor Richard J. Daley. Giuntoli read the December 21, 1976, column that Mike wrote the day Daley died. Although a proverbial thorn in the Mayor's side, Royko recognized his strengths alongside his weaknesses, and acknowledged that Daley embodied Chicago in so many ways.

Judy Royko, Mike's second wife, reflected upon the man he was. Kind, witty, a family man to the core, the best of what was reflected in his columns throughout the years.

Rick Kogan interviewed the world's greatest tavern owner, Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat, who called Mike a brother and claims that he's seen his ghost at the bar. Kogan also spoke to Studs Terkel at the end of the program. Studs recalled Mike's ability to constantly choose the right words, the remarkable quality of the five columns he penned each and every week, and the integrity with which he made his final career change. When Rupert Murdoch purchased the Sun-Times, Mike walked across the street to his lifelong nemesis, the "voice piece of northern Republicanism," none other than the Chicago Tribune. After all, according to Royko, "No self-respecting fish would be wrapped in a Murdoch paper."

The evening ended with a film clip of Mike holding court at the Billy Goat after a 16" softball game, and an invitation from Kogan to the audience to attend a private party at the Goat.

Although I am admittedly an unconventional Royko fan, the evening meant a great deal to me as someone who admired the man from afar. I came to appreciate Mike in college as I subscribed to the Tribune. I caught only the final couple years of his daily musings, but felt a personal connection to the man nonetheless. His death in 1997 was nothing short of devastating.

Upon moving to Chicago in 2001, I came across the compilations of his columns published upon his death, One More Time and For the Love of Mike. I read his tome Boss and later purchased a class set for my high school students to read. I tracked down old volumes of his articles, and tried to read as many of his 8,000 columns as humanly possible. I even read Ciccone's uneven biography. In the process, I received a priceless education on a city I have since adopted as home.

His widow, Judy, donated all of Mike's 8,000 columns to the Newberry Library for preservation and research. For the sake of his loyal readers everywhere, and relative newcomers like myself, let's hope they're all digitized soon and placed online for the public to enjoy and learn. Moreover, echoing the advice of Roger Ebert, the Tribune and/ or the Sun-Times should publish one of Mike's old columns every day. Long live the byline that became a legend, Mike Royko!

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just found this website.

I was a fan of Mike Royko. Thanks for posting this.

6:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know who he is...I thought this was something of more importance like something to do w/slaves freedom.

1:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Several decades back English was spoken simply in Britain, America and
a few British colonies. Write this on the board every day for the first two weeks:
' I am ' You are ' He is ' She is ' It is ' We are
' They are. It appears, at least for now, that that language is English.

Here is my web site - hoc tieng anh

2:53 PM  

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SHAWN HEALY

Managing Director

McCormick Freedom Project

Shawn is responsible for overseeing and managing the operations associated with the McCormick Freedom Project. Additionally, he serves as the in house content expert and voice of museum through public speaking and original scholarship. Before joining the Freedom Project, he taught American Government, Economics, American History, and Chicago History at Community High School in West Chicago, IL and Sheboygan North High School in Wisconsin.

Shawn is a doctoral candidate within the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he received his MA in Political Science. He is a 2001 James Madison Fellow from the State of Wisconsin and holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, History, and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

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About Fanning the Flames and the McCormick Freedom Project


Fanning the Flames is a blog of the McCormick Freedom Project, which was started in 2006 by museum managing director Shawn Healy. The blog highlights the news of the day, in hopes of engaging readers in dialogue about freedom issues. Any views or opinions expressed on this blog represent those of the writers alone and do not represent an official opinion of the McCormick Freedom Project.



Founded in 2005, the McCormick Freedom Project is part of the McCormick Foundation. The Freedom Project’s mission is to enable informed and engaged participation in our democracy by demonstrating the relevance of the First Amendment and the role it plays in the ongoing struggle to define and defend freedom. The museum offers programs and resources for teachers, students, and the general public.


First Amendment journalism initiative


The Freedom Project recently launched a new reporting initiative with professional journalists Tim McNulty and Jamie Loo. The goal is to expand and promote the benefits of lifelong civic engagement among citizens of all ages, through original reporting, commentary and news aggregation on First Amendment and freedom issues. Please visit the McCormick Freedom Project's news Web site, The Post-Exchange at