In this episode, we discuss the life and work of journalist Mike Royko, a Chicago writing icon. Quoting from the Newberry Library’s current exhibit Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism, “Best known for his daily column, he wrote for the Chicago Daily News from 1959 until the paper’s closure in 1978; he joined the Chicago Sun-Times until it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch in 1984; he then wrote for the Chicago Tribune until his death in 1997.”
The exhibit continues, “Royko thought of himself as a reporter first and foremost, and his distinctive perspective on local politics and issues that mattered to fellow Chicagoans drew an audience of countless loyal readers. Eventually, national syndication gave him an audience far beyond the Chicago area. While his opinions resonated with readers across the country, his way with words and his ability to consistently capture the cares of the city’s residents make his columns an enduring part of Chicago’s literary tradition.”
The Newberry’s exhibit, Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism, is on display now through September 28, 2024. For this episode, we are joined by two curators of the exhibit: Sarah Boyd Alvarez, Director of Exhibitions at the Newberry; and Bill Savage, Professor of Instruction, English Department at Northwestern University. You can read their full bios below.
Sarah and Bill are interviewed by Nate King, Digital Content Associate at the American Writers Museum. This conversation originally took place July 29, 2024 and was recorded over Zoom.
About our guests:
SARAH BOYD ALVAREZ is the Director of Exhibitions at the Newberry Library. A museum educator and administrator for more than twenty years, Boyd Alvarez has developed, facilitated, and evaluated programs and learning resources for a range of audiences, including K-12 and college-level students and educators, adults, and families. Most recently, she was Senior Fellow for Public Art History at Smarthistory. Prior to her work with Smarthistory, Boyd Alvarez held multiple roles in the department of Learning and Public Engagement at the Art Institute of Chicago. Boyd Alvarez also created the Terra Foundation American Sources program, a year-long teacher training course that engaged middle and high school humanities educators with a methodology for primary source analysis using works of art. Boyd Alvarez holds a BA in art history from Skidmore College and an MA in art history from Rutgers University.
BILL SAVAGE (Ph.D. Northwestern) teaches and conducts research in several areas of 20th and 21st Century American literature, literary criticism, and hermeneutic theory. He currently focuses on a variety of Chicago textual traditions and the construction of American identity in the dynamic of public, semi-public, and private spaces. His most recent book-length project is an introduction to and annotation of George Ade’s 1931 book, The Old-Time Saloon: Not Wet, Not Dry—Just History (University of Chicago Press, 2016). Savage is currently researching a book on this history of Chicago’s street naming and numbering systems, tentatively entitled The City Logical v. the City Beautiful: Why Edward Brennan is Way More Important than Daniel Burnham. He regularly contributes articles and essays to the Chicago Reader and book reviews to the Chicago Tribune, and participates in Chicago’s live lit scene having read essays at The Paper Machete, The Frunchroom, 20×2, Tuesday Funk, and other venues. Finally, Savage teaches adult education seminars at the Newberry Library of Chicago, and he is a series editor for Chicago Visions and Revisions, a nonfiction series from the University of Chicago Press. He is a lifelong resident of Rogers Park, the Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood.