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Watching people process last week's election (and by people, I mean talking heads on TV and friends on Facebook) has been interesting. Some are elated, cocky even, that former President Trump was elected to a second term. Others are dismayed. One woman I know posted that she could barely look at her children, knowing how horrific their future would be. Maybe I'm naive, but I have more confidence in our country than I do fear of Trump. If he tries to become a dictator, which I...
Hinsdale’s Richard Munson has authored a long list of books on seemingly disparate topics — from biographies on Jacques Cousteau and Nikola Tesla to examinations of the $210 billion electric industry and how technology is changing the food we eat. But if you look closely, there’s a thread that ties them all together. “I’m just quite fascinated with innovators, people who bring new ideas to life,” he told me last week. The latest innovator who captured his interest is one of ou...
I had the privilege of serving as the moderator for a panel discussion on domestic violence at Pillars Community Health’s Bags and Bubbles event Sunday at The Elm in La Grange. I know about Pillars mostly through Buddy’s Place, which we attended as a family after Ainsley’s grandmother died and she struggled with the loss. I know a little about Pillars’ women’s shelter, Constance Morris House, from dropping off donations there. But I learned a lot about domestic violence...
Shortly after I got back from visiting Hinsdale, Mont., in 2017, I received an email from Steve Johnston, one of our freelance photographers. He had seen my article on the trip in the paper while he was at his dentist's office. "Wish I knew you were going," he wrote. "Six more hours west to Bigfork and you could have found former Hinsdale residents, my parents." The last thing I would have had in mind after driving almost 18 hours was spending more time in the car. But when fo...
I knew Montana had its own Hinsdale, as I visited the small town for a series we authored on other Hinsdales across the country in honor of our 10th anniversary. What I did not realize is that Montana is home to many Illinois Hinsdaleans. One is Rob Svendsen, who emailed me a while back to let me know that he, his former business partner and his accountant all hailed from the village. After spending 25 years as a commodity and financial futures trader, he moved to Missoula,...
Thanks for taking time out to read this column in the midst of your National Newspaper Week celebrations! What? You haven't been attending countless cocktail parties and dinners to celebrate this momentous week? Well, I will forgive you. Newspaper Week hasn't quite gained the traction of everyone's favorite fall holiday (perhaps because it's tough to decorate for), but we do observe it here at The Hinsdalean. And in honor of this week, I'd like to present my Top 10 list of rea...
Eighteen years ago this week, residents received the very first issue of The Hinsdalean on their doorsteps. (Or maybe in their bushes, and for that we apologize!) To say we were excited is an understatement. Jim Slonoff and I had dreamed of owning our own newspaper, and a number of things lined up in 2006 to make that possible. We were bought out of our old jobs at The Doings and a beautiful office at 7 W. First St. became available for us to sublet. My husband called it the...
I have a daughter who is obsessed with Halloween. I might be partly to blame for this, as I am an enthusiastic observer of all things holiday. From the time Ainsley was little, she had several items of Halloween apparel - T-shirts, barrettes, socks, earrings, pajamas and more. She had a whole stack of Halloween board books we would read before bed. We've always decorated the house and hosted an annual "spooky dinner" for family and/or friends, with menu items like mummy hot...
"Are you sad your TV show ended?" read the subject line of an email I received last week. "Of course!" I thought to myself. I'm also sad when a book that I love ends. According to Dr. Tabatha Greene, a psychologist at Advocate Health Care, it's common for people to feel a strong sense of identity with or connection to characters. "Humans are wired for connection," Greene said in the emailed article. "Books or movies can fulfill that need to some extent." I would say personal...
"Sisterhood, oh sisterhood, it means so much to us. It lasts a long, long, time. It lasts forever." Forty years ago I went through Rush at Illinois Wesleyan University, pledged the Sigma Kappa House and soon after learned that chant. On Bid Day, I didn't know a single one of the 20 or so girls in my pledge class. Two weekends ago, nine of us got together for a mini-reunion in Edwardsville. Only one regular attendee was missing - celebrating her mom's birthday. One came all...
Covering the final Uniquely Thursdays concert last week for the final installment of our Summer Days series brought back lots of memories. Since I've worked in Hinsdale forever, I was around when the concert series launched in 2002. That year, and for the five summers that followed, the event took place on First Street between Garfield Avenue and Washington Street. I remember those early concerts well. So does Washington Street resident Lynette Lovelace, who was involved with...
Summer 2024 is over, if you’ve headed back to school, or about over, if you listen to meteorologists. This week I wanted to reflect on some of the highlights that I’ve enjoyed — or plan to enjoy — before summer officially ends Sept. 22. • visiting family After a few years of texting and Zooming, I had the chance to meet my birth mom’s older sister, Barb, while we were in Maryland in June. We traveled there for my birth mom’s husband Steve’s memorial service, which was beautifu...
Every two years I, like so many others across the country and around the world, love watching the Olympics. Two seasons of basketball poms were the extent of my athletic endeavors, so it's not an affinity with the athletes that draws me to the television set each night for 17 days. I do love watching people perform at their absolute best - and hearing so many inspiring stories about the athletes. NBC broadcasters and TV personalities (mainly Jimmy Fallon) seem to agree that...
I miss the days when Ainsley was little and Friday night was pizza and movie night. We’d watch the latest Disney release or sentimental favorites like “Because of Winn-Dixie” or “Fly Away Home.” Every Friday I still suggest a movie night — and we still have pizza. But now that Ainsley is older, it seems she has better things to do, like go out with friends or babysitting. Some nights she even prefers hanging out in her room alone to spending time with me and her dad! Earlier this summer she agreed to a series of throwback m...
One of my favorite episodes of The X-Files is called "The Field Where I Died." Usually the show is about aliens (which might or might not exist, depending on which season you're watching), but this one is about an investigation of a local cult that supposedly has a cache of weapons and is abusing children. During the investigation, FBI special agent Fox Mulder experiences deja vu, which leads him to find the cult leader and his six wives, hiding under a trap door and...
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy "W" towns - Winnetka - beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest list published by HomeSnacks. What is HomeSnacks, you ask? We're not entirely sure, but it produces lots of lists - safest states, most dangerous states, even dumbest states. You can read all of these lists on its Facebook page (which contains no information about who is preparing them or why). And what does...
When I heard of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, I mentally ticked off the same list many others did - Lincoln, JFK, RFK Jr., Reagan. Then I heard a news report about an attempt on former President Teddy Roosevelt's life as he sought another term. I was surprised to hear about an assassination attempt that I didn't remember learning about in school. Then I did a little research online and discovered the list of assassination attempts on presidents...
“Hope you and the family had a terrific holiday weekend,” Susan O’Byrne emailed me Sunday along with her column to run in today’s paper. “We became the new home of three pet rats and a rather large rat cage,” I responded. “Not sure that qualifies as terrific!” Susan was much more enthusiastic about the pet rats than I was, although I have to say they are growing on me. Ainsley brought the rats home July 3 after she and a friend got them for free from a lady outside a pet s...
A lot of Facebook posts will tell you what books you should be reading right now. I tend to look at these posts the same way I used to look at summer reading lists when I was in high school. I wanted to read all of the books so I could be as prepared as possible for the first day of school. But I’m not in school anymore, and so I don’t have to be tortured with the incomprehensible prose of William’s Faulkner’s “Light in August.” Nor do I have to find regionally appropriate...
Church has been a part of my life since before I can remember. And since I haven’t had to move from town to town over the years, I’ve been able to attend only four churches since I was a kid. The one I spent the most time at, and the one where I experienced the most spiritual growth, is the First United Methodist Church of Western Springs. I attended my last service there last month. Actually it was the final service for the church at 4300 Howard Ave., which started in 188...
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy "W" towns - Winnetka - beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest list published by HomeSnacks. What is HomeSnacks, you ask? We're not entirely sure, but it produces lots of lists - safest states, most dangerous states, even dumbest states. You can read all of these lists on its Facebook page (which contains no information about who is preparing them or why). And what does...
The newspaper business, like many others, is seasonal. Our schedule mirrors the school year in many ways, with our busiest times occurring while classes - and high school sports - are in session. And then summer rolls around, and with it comes a slightly different to-do list. One of my responsibilities each June is to thank a group of contributing columnists who have been writing for us for the past two years and to invite interested writers to apply for one of the openings....
I can't make up my mind most days whether I find cicadas fascinating or disgusting. I can't deny, though, that they provide a great writing opportunity. I wrote my first cicada story in 1990 for The Doings. My father-in-law, John Litster, was a letter carrier in town and had recorded interviews with homeowners on his route about the emergence of these rare insects. Their comments were hilarious. Seventeen years later, in 2007, before this paper had even turned a year old, I wr...
Amy Owens had undergone a cancer diagnosis, a total mastectomy and chemotherapy when I first met her in 2007. She had generously agreed to meet with me once a month for a year as she recovered from a rare form of breast cancer, invasive triple negative ductile carcinoma, as part of our Making a Difference partnership with Wellness House. I talked to her again in September 2009, about a year after my story was published and days before she celebrated her second year of being...
The Mother's Day images we see always show the perfect celebration. Handsome husbands present their expectant wives with a stunning piece of jewelry. Gorgeous young children bring breakfast in bed to their beautiful mom (who looks like she's been up for an hour doing her hair and makeup). Multi-generational families enjoy fabulous brunch spreads in amazing outdoor gardens. We all know that's not the reality many women will experience on Sunday. Some will face their Mother's...
