67 Comments

RE: most beloved Chicagoan - my first thought was also Studs. But it’s probably some athlete, maybe even one I’ve never heard of.

Expand full comment

I am voting in the tweet poll mainly to vote against the Dumb Dog tweet. Like the kid seeing the nude Emperor, I protest. The other dog is looking at the Yogurt people!

Expand full comment

1. Not everyone is a sports fan, or a football fan... but Walter Payton was the beloved. 2. Hey don't call out politicians like that - leave them in their cold, dark caves - out of sight of human beings.

Expand full comment

walter payton was the greatest football player of all time, bar none. and despite some personal flaws - 'i'm only human, after all' - he was generous to a fault -not just with his $$$ [tho he was generous with his $] - but with his time, especially with kids. walter was the consummate gentleman, poked fun at himself, made chicago and chicagoland a better place. as a man and as a person, michael jordan was minor league compared to walter. i vote walter payton the most beloved chicagoan.

Expand full comment

Studs was 'beloved' by a small group of Literati. Not (unfortunately) by the majority of Chicagoans. Most couldn't differentiate Studs from Royko's Slats Grobnik. As simply "Most Beloved" (not My Fav or Most Important), my vote would go to Tom Skilling.

Expand full comment

As a Rockfordian, I may not have the credentials for this questions, but if you're talking beloved, it would HAVE to be Tom Skilling, hands down.

Expand full comment
Mar 28, 2023·edited Mar 28, 2023

How could we not consider Ernie Banks as the most beloved Chicagoan? The mans was a shoe-in Hall of Famer, and his joy for the game was obvious and unending. RIP, Mr. Cub.

Expand full comment
author

Good point. Ron Santo also comes to mind.

Expand full comment
founding

I went for Ernie, too, even before I read this comment thread. I recommend Ron Rapaport’s fairly recent bio, naturally titled “Let’s Play Two.”

Expand full comment

EZ, you're obviously a cubs fan - tho maybe that's a blinding glimpse of the obvious. while ernie was beloved by every cubs fan and almost every sox fan i know - i'm a sox fan, and i have tremendous respect and affection for ernie - almost no white sox fans i know like/liked santo. and santo said, post-retirement, going to the white sox was the worst [or one of the worst] career decision he ever made. i won't say anything specifically negative about santo, because i try not to speak ill of the dead. but santo's not even in the top 100 of beloved chicagoans.

Expand full comment
author

thanks for the correction, EZ. i now recall [vaguely] your move from N side fandom to S side fandom. it would have been correct if i had said you 'were' a cubs fan; and in particular during the santo/banks/williams/jenkins era; up to somewhere ~2018/2019. at least you got to enjoy the cubs WS victory; and the 2 visits to the NLCS bookending the WS. big 'tent' on the S side, we're happy to have you and others as Sox fans, whatever your reason[s].

Expand full comment

No question about it, Ernie Banks FTW.

Expand full comment
Mar 28, 2023·edited Mar 28, 2023

Found a 2006 list of "100 Most famous Chicagoans" and tried to make a subset of those also "beloved". A few you didn't mention: Bill Murray (9) a good option, Ernie Banks (50) even liked by White Sox fans, Gale Sayers (67) class act on and off the field and Bill Kurtis (85) a sleeper in the category. Guess who was number 48? PS's very own, Eric Zorn...

Expand full comment
author

Well, that was 2006. And it wasn't even true then!

Expand full comment

Most beloved Chicagoan is simple: Bozo the Clown. Yes, he’s fictional, but we laughed with him every day at the same time, he wasn’t partisan to North or South Sides, and he appealed to kids and grown-ups alike. How many Chicagoans can you name who didn’t know and love him?

Expand full comment

That was my thought, too. Bozo had a 10-year wait list for audience tickets!

Expand full comment

Yes, but Bozo was a franchise in US and Canada. Bob Bell played him here for 20+ years, though! Also brings Ray Raynor to mind.

Expand full comment

I'm thinking Harry Caray as the most beloved Chicagoan. Reading through your list of possibilities he is the one candidate that caused me to smile, reminisce, and recall some fun moments. He was able to bring laughs to both the South and North Siders during years of frustration. I don't think the others are missed as much as Harry.

Expand full comment

i'll go with 'one of' the most beloved chicagoans for harry - top 20, maybe top 10 - but not #1.

Expand full comment

I vote for Mike Royko.

Expand full comment

Walking in downtown Chicago almost every day, I have to thank Louis Henry Sullivan.

Expand full comment

Mavis Staples deserves a nomination at a minimum. I don’t agree with the sports stars—except Walter Payton—since they leave at the first scent of a better deal. If that entity is included Candace Parker should get a seat, but way too many people wouldn’t even know who she is. To be “most beloved of all times” someone would have to be famous. Royko should also get a nomination despite the likelihood that would piss him off.

Expand full comment

Been following Candace since her Naperville days! Had 13 great years for the LA Sparks and then 2 in Chicago.

Ernie Banks was the first black player on the Cub's and played all 17 years of his career here. "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zk8pOHPew

Sayers played all seven of his injury shortened career with the Bears and was a businessman and civic leader in Chicago post football. And of course there is Brian's Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ooIZqbT2kA

Expand full comment

i predict vallas over johnson by 10+ percentage points. crime, fear of crime, and the propensity of older voters to vote and younger voters not to vote will lead to a lopsided vallas victory.

that said, i predicted clinton over trump in 2016.

Expand full comment

Re: R's against human composting. Is there a reason they voted no or did they just vote no as the bill was submitted by a D? Confused here.

Expand full comment
founding

NO is a safe vote on something that is certain to pass, has vocal and emotional opposition, and no ardent support in the home district. There will never be a campaign ad that says 'He voted no on composting'. But I would still have preferred to see support for free choice. And the Dem Deluca is consistent about knowing who he is pandering to.

Expand full comment
founding

We have cats who have their claws. We also have a nail clipper. Clipping does not appear to diminish their ability to dispatch and present us with the occasional mouse. Keeping claws painlessly blunt (admittedly a two-person job) seems to me to obviate most of the arguments for declawing.

Expand full comment

Very well said and I believe vets offer this service as well.

Expand full comment
founding

Not Studs. You listen to his interviews and they were all about Studs, not the interviewee. I vote for Ernie Banks.

Expand full comment