Mary Frances and Bill Veeck on March 10, 1959 when Bill purchased 54 % of the White Sox for $2.7 million. (Photo courtesy of the Veeck family.)
Mary Frances Veeck is surrounded by a garden.
She is sitting with her daughter Marya on a mid-August morning in the patio of her Hyde Park retirement home. There are red begonias, sunflowers, and gold daisies. A visitor brings yellow flowers, just as he used to do with his mother. Mary Frances’s life has been a bouquet of joy, dancing, tears, and long summer nights. She was married to Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Veeck from 1950 until he died in 1986.
Mary [...]
For no reason at all, looters and arsonists destroyed the historic Central Camera Co. store, 230 S. Wabash during the May 30 Chicago protests following the murder of George Floyd. Not long after the store was ruined, third-generation owner Don Flesch began a personal journey to see if there was anything he could salvage from his upstairs office.
Maybe he would find a lost letter from his grandfather Albert Flesch.
Or, a family photograph, of course.
Instead, he found sweet music hidden in a distant shelf.
During the early 1900s, Central Camera had a record label. Flesch discovered a cracked, smoke-tinged 78 by Peluso’s Orchestra. It [...]
David Leong, 1920-2020
“The Cashew Chicken Capital of America” is a true made-in-America story delivered from the hills and highways of Springfield, Mo.
Springfield’s population is approximately 168,000 people. And nearly 100 regional restaurants serve cashew chicken.
David Leong, the beloved founder of “Springfield Style Cashew Chicken” died July 20 in Springfield. He had been battling pneumonia. David was 99 years old. He would have turned 100 on August 18.
David’s remarkable journey incorporates so many things I love: cashew chicken, Route 66, soul music, immigrant [...]
In loving memory of Clarence Burke, Sr, 1929-2020. (Photo courtesy of Keni Burke)
Clarence Burke, Sr., the beloved patriarch of Chicago’s Five Stairsteps soul and rock group died on July 16, following a seizure in an Atlanta area hospital. He would have turned 91 on July 17.
I interviewed Mr. Burke in late June for a New City magazine article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the group’s biggest hit, “O-o-h Child.” A couple of days after our conversation he fell in his home and suffered a fractured hip. When I heard that news I recalled the satisfied, empathetic tones in Mr. Burke’s voice. He ended our [...]
