I too choose to be a mediocre golfer. I play 9 holes (walking) 3 times a week at a course commonly referred to as “a bar with a golf course around it.” My favorite playing partner has been 88 year old Ginny (and as I said, walking). She’s moving in 2 weeks, and the joy I get from playing is going to be significantly diminished.
Eric, excellent interview with my favorite Trib columnist of all time, Steve Chapman. I could regale you with the reasons i enjoyed steve's writing - which i did, in an email to steve, after i read his final column for the Trib. but i'll just leave you with this: steve respected his readers - that you were intelligent enough to grasp what he was writing, open-minded enough to consider his POV, regardless of whether you agreed with what he said. no histrionics, low volume. i will miss reading steve - maybe you can persuade him to do an occasional column for the PS.
So glad you started this newsletter. I don't always agree with you, but I look forward to your Tuesday and Thursday missives, and am glad to hear you plan to continue.
Eric, this is the best edition yet. Just when I thought it was good with the AMA section and Steve Chapman interview, you threw in the link to beat sentences in history. OMG. I new a sentence from Lolita would be there; the rest blew my mind in a great way on what otherwise would have been an uneventful commute on the Brown line. Makes me want to leave something beautiful behind.
Thanks a bunch for that piece on Steve Chapman, the best wordsmith I ever read at the Trib or anywhere else. When I moved my family from IL to TX back in 2014 I kept my online subscription to the Trib specifically to have access to Chapman and, to a *slightly* lesser degree, to you, Mr. Zorn. I admired you both greatly.
I've long since let that subscription lapse, mainly because of how far removed I am from IL though I do subscribe to other newspapers, and of course here, and The Dispatch.
Chapman truly was one of the great writers. Congrats to him on a terrific career.
“To mark the one-year anniversary of the Picayune Sentinel, I invite readers to ask me anything, with the proviso that I had no intention of answering every question. Here are some that came in.” --Zorn
Which of your first reads most influenced your writing and how effective has it been in your practical work in and around Chicago?
I didn’t realize that we have to thank our lack of universal healthcare for the existence of the Picayune Sentinel. People will be less productive if they don’t have to be. That’s where I am now - being unproductive because I don’t have to be.
“we are a fluke result in one of perhaps billions of iterations of a “big bang,” “
This is close to my belief, and if you dig into the life-providing physics of our universe, you’ll see some incredibly unlikely aspects of it that support this view. Some of these physical "just-so" elements line up with the notion of a creator - they are so unlikely. Your idea of exhaustive trial of many Big Bangs removes the role of creator. My current thinking, now faddish, is that a being is exploring and tweaking the possible universes in a game or simulation to find ones that are interesting, like ours.
Mincing Rascals was interesting as usual. I agree with you that the Special Master decision was political and will have little effect on any potential prosecution. But probably for different reasons. I think the judge did the right thing to ensure the public confidence in the legitimacy of the investigation and the prosecution. I also think that the classified materials are the most likely to result in serious prosecution and can't be excluded. Any material that is claimed to have executive privilege is still the property of the government and will have to be returned. And I expect that the master will only identify a handful of documents that should be added to the attorney/client privilege.
Eric, I am another Chapman fan who writes to you. I enjoyed Chapman's columns for all the reasons you noted. Agree or disagree, Chapman always was reasonable and made me think -- and sometimes changed my mind. Like a certain EZ. Thanks for running the interview. And, Eric, any time you want to get the band back together, I'll be happy to read Chapman, Schmich, Kamin, et al. in the Picayune Sentinel.
The interview of Mark Jacob by Jennifer Reitman that you linked was illuminating, but maybe not in the way that was intended. What both the questions and answers demonstrated all too clearly is that there is no shortage of voices in in the media that are utterly brazen in their ferocious pursuit of unfettered political partisanship and shameless bias in reportage. It reminded me of the comments Hugo Balta delivered a year and a half ago after WTTW showed him the door after staff at Chicago Tonight complained that his transparent political fanaticism was compromising CT’s credibility. Balta was quite blunt and unapologetic as he reasoned that his function as a news producer was to wage war on the “antiquated system” of journalistic objectivity. Thanks for your candor, Hugo. And thank you, Jennifer and Mark.
I too choose to be a mediocre golfer. I play 9 holes (walking) 3 times a week at a course commonly referred to as “a bar with a golf course around it.” My favorite playing partner has been 88 year old Ginny (and as I said, walking). She’s moving in 2 weeks, and the joy I get from playing is going to be significantly diminished.
Eric, excellent interview with my favorite Trib columnist of all time, Steve Chapman. I could regale you with the reasons i enjoyed steve's writing - which i did, in an email to steve, after i read his final column for the Trib. but i'll just leave you with this: steve respected his readers - that you were intelligent enough to grasp what he was writing, open-minded enough to consider his POV, regardless of whether you agreed with what he said. no histrionics, low volume. i will miss reading steve - maybe you can persuade him to do an occasional column for the PS.
So glad you started this newsletter. I don't always agree with you, but I look forward to your Tuesday and Thursday missives, and am glad to hear you plan to continue.
Eric, this is the best edition yet. Just when I thought it was good with the AMA section and Steve Chapman interview, you threw in the link to beat sentences in history. OMG. I new a sentence from Lolita would be there; the rest blew my mind in a great way on what otherwise would have been an uneventful commute on the Brown line. Makes me want to leave something beautiful behind.
Thanks a bunch for that piece on Steve Chapman, the best wordsmith I ever read at the Trib or anywhere else. When I moved my family from IL to TX back in 2014 I kept my online subscription to the Trib specifically to have access to Chapman and, to a *slightly* lesser degree, to you, Mr. Zorn. I admired you both greatly.
I've long since let that subscription lapse, mainly because of how far removed I am from IL though I do subscribe to other newspapers, and of course here, and The Dispatch.
Chapman truly was one of the great writers. Congrats to him on a terrific career.
“To mark the one-year anniversary of the Picayune Sentinel, I invite readers to ask me anything, with the proviso that I had no intention of answering every question. Here are some that came in.” --Zorn
Which of your first reads most influenced your writing and how effective has it been in your practical work in and around Chicago?
Wow! LOVED the Steve Chapman interview. Thank you!!
I didn’t realize that we have to thank our lack of universal healthcare for the existence of the Picayune Sentinel. People will be less productive if they don’t have to be. That’s where I am now - being unproductive because I don’t have to be.
“we are a fluke result in one of perhaps billions of iterations of a “big bang,” “
This is close to my belief, and if you dig into the life-providing physics of our universe, you’ll see some incredibly unlikely aspects of it that support this view. Some of these physical "just-so" elements line up with the notion of a creator - they are so unlikely. Your idea of exhaustive trial of many Big Bangs removes the role of creator. My current thinking, now faddish, is that a being is exploring and tweaking the possible universes in a game or simulation to find ones that are interesting, like ours.
I sent a farewell email to Steve Chapman and said I hoped to he would choose to occasionally appear as a consultant on television.
Mincing Rascals was interesting as usual. I agree with you that the Special Master decision was political and will have little effect on any potential prosecution. But probably for different reasons. I think the judge did the right thing to ensure the public confidence in the legitimacy of the investigation and the prosecution. I also think that the classified materials are the most likely to result in serious prosecution and can't be excluded. Any material that is claimed to have executive privilege is still the property of the government and will have to be returned. And I expect that the master will only identify a handful of documents that should be added to the attorney/client privilege.
Thank you
You fiddle well!
Eric, I am another Chapman fan who writes to you. I enjoyed Chapman's columns for all the reasons you noted. Agree or disagree, Chapman always was reasonable and made me think -- and sometimes changed my mind. Like a certain EZ. Thanks for running the interview. And, Eric, any time you want to get the band back together, I'll be happy to read Chapman, Schmich, Kamin, et al. in the Picayune Sentinel.
Sorry to see Steve go. He was/is a good one.
But……WTF does the sugar tweet mean?
The interview of Mark Jacob by Jennifer Reitman that you linked was illuminating, but maybe not in the way that was intended. What both the questions and answers demonstrated all too clearly is that there is no shortage of voices in in the media that are utterly brazen in their ferocious pursuit of unfettered political partisanship and shameless bias in reportage. It reminded me of the comments Hugo Balta delivered a year and a half ago after WTTW showed him the door after staff at Chicago Tonight complained that his transparent political fanaticism was compromising CT’s credibility. Balta was quite blunt and unapologetic as he reasoned that his function as a news producer was to wage war on the “antiquated system” of journalistic objectivity. Thanks for your candor, Hugo. And thank you, Jennifer and Mark.