Heroes of 1812
One of the things to admire about Gillum Ferguson’s new book, Illinois in the War of 1812, which I wrote about recently, is his depiction of the native peoples caught up in that conflict. He portrays leaders such as Main Poc as complex individuals with contradictory ambitions and ambivalent loyalties of the sort so often…
Birthday bash
Bob Vaughn, who runs the Sangamon Auditorium at UIS, tells me that the upcoming performance by the San Francisco Jazz Collective will be dedicated to Springfield drum great Barrett Deems, whom I mentioned in my recent column about drummers. The date of the 7 p.m. performance, Sunday March 30, 2014, falls about a month after…
Do Not Go to Jail
Last year, noting that not a single high-level executive had been successfully prosecuted in connection with collapse of the national economy in 2008, I asked why more real crooks don’t go to jail. Jed S. Rakoff takes up that topic in a recent piece in the New York Review of Books in which he asks…
Remembering just a little more
There’s so much we can’t tell you about the folks we write about in our Illinois Times “Remembering” issue. The past two years have been particularly difficult for me writing about folks I actually knew and containing all my love for them in 800 words. One of my best friends died in 2012 and my lover…
Pension reform: An interview with U of I expert
Editor’s note: In an interview with U of I News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora, finance professor Jeffrey R. Brown, who’s also the director of the Center for Business and Public Policy in the College of Business and was a senior economist with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2001-2002, discusses Illinois’…
Mesmerizing merriment
Nationally known hypnotist and comedian Doug Thompson brings two hilarious shows to the Hilton Springfield’s Grand Ballroom on New Years Eve. Don’t miss this chance to see Doug mesmerize audience members into outrageously entertaining situations. Must be 21years of age. Doors open one hour prior to show. The ballroom is on the Mezzanine level. Tickets…
oomphalos poem #1
oomphalos poem #1 when my dad was sixty-seven he was in the hospital a couple months he was a terrible patient he wouldn’t eat the food wouldn’t drink the water “it tastes better in my horse trough!” and the coffee was strained through an irishman’s sock mother had to bring him oyster stew in a…
So much for 2013
Powerhouse performs classic rock during the Whirlwind Bar Tour Dec. 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Boondocks. Here are a few observations on the past year, which seemed very much like a fast year as well. From what I can recollect, we had a good season of outdoor events. Not only did we produce…
Bill Shea was the man to see
WILLIAM C. SHEA Remember when the Nazis tried to take over the world? Mr. Shea was one of many who answered the call to prevent that from becoming a reality, as part of the D-day invasion. Remember when you needed gas in your car or the oil checked on your engine? Bill Shea was the…
Communal pot
Start the New Year with nature and friends. Join the Sangamon Valley Sierra Club at its annual Stone Soup Hike, Wed., Jan. 1, at Carpenter Park Nature Preserve. Bring something to throw in the soup pot, your own drink (something hot is recommended) and your own table service. There will be a vegetarian pot and a…
‘I’m down but I’m not out!’
CECILE MARIE WOODSON-WHEATLEY My mother was born in Vicksburg, Miss., but she had been a resident of Springfield since the age of 2. Most people old enough may remember her as the daughter of the Hay Homes Legend “Virgin Mary Hamilton” (and yes that was her mother’s real name), who was as known for standing…
This Must Be the Band
This Must Be the Band Coming from Chicago and claiming to be best, and incidentally, the only Talking Heads tribute band from the Windy City, This Must Be the Band likes being faux T-Heads a lot. How they best like to display this like comes in two formats. The first is a “note-for-note and prop-for-prop”…
His knowledge took his class to places they’d never been
KENNETH ROBERT FOLKS Ken Folks is missed by me, his coworker, and all the lives he touched in his classroom at Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries. He was the kind of guy that you only had to meet once, and from then on you were friends forever. It was like you’d known him for years.…
Personal pronouns
Curses, foiled again• Police investigating 15 home burglaries in and around Lakewood, Colo., identified Brandon Campbell, 27, as their suspect because he was wearing a GPS ankle monitor that placed him at the crime scenes. “I would say it’s a prosecutor’s dream to have GPS,” Arapahoe County Deputy Prosecutor Chelsea Koch said. “That’s an excellent…
A pioneer of sustainability
RICHARD ROGER “DICK” MORSE Dick Morse of Springfield was “green” before it was even a thing. The influential architect helped create a community of environmentally conscious designers and participated in the renovation of numerous historic buildings in Springfield, leaving a legacy of revitalization. Morse died on May 28, 2013, at age 69. Richard Roger Morse…
Backscratching society
Timmy Geithner has landed. The Secretary of the Treasury in President Obama’s first term resigned early this year, and we lost track of him for months. But in November, Geithner reappeared, having spun himself through Washington’s revolving door – whoosh, whoosh, whoosh – and flung himself all the way up to Wall Street, landing softly…
The rat of the litter
For two months, I’ve been dating an awesome guy. He does sweet things like leaving cute notes on my windshield, but I worry about how he looks up to his older brother, who isn’t the greatest person. What’s most worrisome is how his brother treats women like garbage, saying anything to get them into bed…
A sense of place
CARL VOLKMANN Carl Volkmann died Oct. 11 after a 15-year struggle with cancer. In October 2012, he received an Alumni Award from his alma mater, Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Here is an excerpt from the citation read on that occasion: Carl Volkmann epitomizes the importance of a sense of place. For him, the place…
As war escalated in Liberia, life became increasingly difficult
TECUMSAY JUMO ROBERTS, SR. Sisters Gifty Smith and Yarvo Roberts say their childhood home in Liberia was so full of familiar faces that they didn’t know which people were actual relatives. “Those in need came to our house and my parents would find a way to get them whatever they lacked. Dad was always helping…
A genius in science, art and humor
Dr. David Sumner of Springfield was a renowned surgeon, academic and artist. One of his paintings, at right, depicts the Rue Dauphine, a well-known street in Paris, France. A beautiful Parisian streetscape, a sailboat race on the North Carolina coast, and a peaceful snowfall on frozen Lake Springfield: Those picturesque scenes and many more were…
First Night puts the art in party
Springfield Ballet Company performs at 6 p.m. in LRS Theater, Hoogland Center for the Arts PHOTOS COURTESY SPRINGFIELD AREA ARTS COUNCIL Springfield Area Arts Council welcomes and encourages you to make the arts part of your plan for this year’s New Year’s Eve. The arts are more than pleasure for the soul. The arts are…
‘It’s OK. Everything will be all right.’
MARK ALEXANDER MACDONALD “isn’t easy being a man / all those lines we paint / to the endless amusement / of those who live between them” – from Mark’s poem “Lines” Mark visited Illinois the year the Mississippi flooded. As a participant in the 1993 World Free Fall Convention in Quincy, he took a Springfield…
Mitty a magical tribute to the possible
Ben Stiller While I would hardly call it cutting edge cinema, Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a rather risky proposition in this day and age. As the poet, philosopher and sports agent Jerry Maguire once said, “We live in a cynical world,” and as such we’re always on guard, weary of…
She simply walked out and did what had to be done
ANN ELIZABETH SEFCIK WOOLSEYAnn Ann rushed in where others feared to tread, whether it was leaving the comfort of the familiar for places unknown, or climbing a fence to rescue Bounce, the pug, from a stamping, snorting bull. She never looked back or looked around, and she never weighed the what ifs. She simply…
Rocking in 2014
PHOTO BY JOHN MUCHOW Make sure to phone ahead for reservations to Hedwig and the Angry Inch Happy New Year because we’re not sure this limited seating New Year’s Eve shindig will not sell out by press time. The Legacy Theatre will rock in the New Year with music from two great bands, spirits and…
A law-and-order woman
GRACE ELEANOR MURDOCK Grace Murdock, you could say, was a real pistol. Upon her death at 94 last spring, Murdock’s son, Mitchell, found a .22-caliber gun in her nightstand at Concordia Village, where she lived the final decade of her life. “She was always with a weapon,” Mitchell says. When her husband, Russell, became sheriff…
Remembering the lives they lived
About the issue Our annual end-of-year obituary issue offers in-depth portraits and personal remembrances of just a few of the hundreds who have passed from the Springfield scene this year. There is no attempt to be comprehensive, or even representative; these are people who have come to the attention of our writers, and others who…
Letters to the Editor 12/26/13
PENSION PLANNING I don’t know Mr. Krohe so there is nothing personal in this reply to his rant about state employee pensions (“Promises, promises,” Dec. 12). However, as someone who worked half a century in both the private and public sectors, I couldn’t resist responding. I worked for the state for about 30 of those…
The premier downstate political strategist
KEITH LARKIN TAYLOR A host of prominent Illinois politicos attended the July 16 memorial service for Keith Taylor. Among them were Attorney General Lisa Madigan, former Attorney General Neil Hartigan, former Senate President Tom Hynes and his son, former Comptroller Dan Hynes. The younger Hynes gave a moving tribute to Taylor, who had squired Hynes…
The Stone that grew seeds and a company
ANDREW RICHARD STONE, SR. Andy Stone spent his life working and living on and for the family farm, but he was not your stereotypical tractor-driving, cap-wearing farmer. Not content to rest on the well-established laurels of the Stone Seed Company and Stone Seed Farms built by his grandfather and father, he took the family business…
She was a volunteer from the word go
ELSIEJANE “NING” O’KEEFE “I’m a better person because my life touched Ning’s,” said Elizabeth Kloppenburg of her dear friend, Elsiejane “Ning” Staley O’Keefe, who died Aug. 4. It is a sentiment echoed by many in Springfield. This city was Ning’s love, and much of her adult life was spent in service to its people and…
The Pied Piper of kids
RILEY GRAHAM SEVERNS Beloved son of Richard and Dana Severns of Rochester, Riley Severns, from the moment he set foot on this earthly blue sphere on Nov. 3, 1997, until his departure for his heavenly palace on Aug. 10, 2013, this young man lived life on his own terms. That generally meant full speed ahead.…
“There is no short cut”
Every Illinoisan wants, or ought to want to curb unneeded increases in Medicaid spending. Purging the rolls will help a little, but the real problem is something else. According to Harold Pollack, writing in the Washington Post, the average annual expenditures on the bottom 72 percent of Illinois Medicaid recipients is only about $564. That…
She kept us all connected
NORMA JEAN THOMPSON Spending a lifetime as a devoted wife, mother and grandmother is a small snapshot into why my mom is special to me. We shared a special bond. I would start thinking of her and the phone would ring and it would be her calling. I would call her and she would say,…
A kind and caring sidekick
JEFFREY HOFMANN Despite spending the better part of his working life as a radio personality, Jeff Hofmann wasn’t much for the limelight. A fight with cancer is never easy, but Hofmann did it with grace and wit. Didn’t want sympathy, and didn’t talk much about it after his diagnosis in 2008. “He was losing weight,”…
She fought like a girl but lost
VIVIAN EDNA MCGINNIS She fought like a girl but lost. My beautiful daughter, Vivian Edna (Raridon) McGinnis, was born June 26, 1959 to Richard and Evelyn (Bumgardner) Raridon of Middletown. She went to school at Middletown for two years, then attended Chester East Lincoln for seven years. Her parents moved to San Antonio, Texas, where…
What to eat for a lucky New Year
“Ushers hurriedly passed tiny baskets of yellow grapes. A loud solemn gong began booming. Each head bent, gobbling their grapes. All around me I heard sputtering and choking. [Edmundo] was frantically consumed in the effort, swallowing even pits and stems. [He] turned to me, planting a damp kiss on both my cheeks. ‘Feliz año Nuevo,…
A life of simple distinction
HENRY KRUG III Henry Krug III was unique in many ways, but the most remarkable thing about him was the number of lives he touched while living, by his own choice, the simplest life he could. Born to a modest family, he married his high school sweetheart. Henry served in Vietnam as a member of…
Over regulation
Karen and Court Conn. PHOTO BY GINNY LEE Court and Karen Conn are peeved. In the current issue of Compass, the magazine of the libertarian Illinois Policy Institute, they air several gripes about their problems doing business in the capital city. The IPI celebrates the free enterprise system as one of “the greatest force[s] for…
