Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, March 11,2010

Drawing the line?

Springfield as a border town on the North-South divide

Maybe it was the recent election of Richard Nixon to the White House that left me looking to the past rather than to the future in 1974. That was the year I published Honest Abe’s Honest Almanac

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, March 4,2010

Giving immortality to their littleness

Gov. Thomas Ford’s history of Illinois politics

By James Krohe Jr.

Illinois has a very short list of distinguished governors and a somewhat longer one of able historians. The list of distinguished governors who also are able historians is very short indeed. Only one

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, February 25,2010

What about the banjo?

A Springfield grade-schooler confronts American folk songs

By James Krohe Jr.

When I was a student, I was introduced to the concept that the simplest-sounding phrases had irreconcilable and contradictory meanings that rendered interpretation impossible. No intellectual test was

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, February 18,2010

The people’s choice

Direct primaries and the Scott Lee Cohen fiasco

By James Krohe Jr.

The obituaries for the political career of the unfortunate Scott Lee Cohen list as the cause of death all the common viruses of Illinois politics, from dunderheaded party leaders and lazy reporters to

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, February 11,2010

Holy inkwells

Turning Lincoln stuff into sacred relics

By James Krohe Jr.

Many years ago, I made my first visit to the Illinois State Historical Library in its handsome but cramped new quarters beneath the Old State Capitol. Having time to kill while waiting for the staff t

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, February 4,2010

Someone from outside

Springfield’s tradition of Lincoln Scholarship

By James Krohe Jr.

“One thing I don’t like, and Springfield don’t like, is someone to come in from outside and tell us about Lincoln.” That was the late Murray Hanes, talking as only Hanes could

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, January 28,2010

Teaching idiots

Is this the golden age of the autodidact?

By James Krohe Jr.

This town has been the theater for the careers of many a self-made man and woman (and nearly as many unmade ones) but the self-taught person is rare among us. Not so a century and more ago. In Illinoi

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, January 21,2010

Harvesting electricity

The newest energy crop from Illinois fields

By James Krohe Jr.

The American Wind Energy Corp. in December announced its intention to plant 25,000 acres in western Sangamon County with wind turbines, beginning in 2011. While county officials busy themselves determ

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, January 14,2010

Age-inappropriate literature

The rewards of reading books before you are ready

By James Krohe Jr.

I was a bookish boy. I read at school and at home, encouraged by boredom and the summer reading programs at Lincoln Library. I didn’t read to learn; I read to be entertained. (There is no spur t

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, January 7,2010

Scared space

De-engineering residential streets to make traffic safer

By James Krohe Jr.

The folks down in Chatham are facing that dilemma so familiar to our migrant middle class families whose second homes consist of minivans or SUVs: As more and more young families with children move to