My search for a “figurative image of power” led me to this clenched fist. How about if we literally “unclench” the fist as a tactic to halt the actions of the person who inspired this post? Thanks to Wikipedia for use of the image.
By Edward M. Bury, APR, MA (aka The PRDude)
In a public career punctuated by frequent fabrications, revolting new revelations, and dastardly directives, the past week set a new low standard for the person in question. Here’s a recap.
Delivered an unneeded nationally televised speechthat, along with outright lies, added a new fracture to our increasingly-fragile, splintering democracy.
Ordered in what may be an illegal action that his name be added to the facade of a national complex designed to showcase and celebrate American artistic excellence.
But wait! There is still the balance of this evening and Saturday! So perhaps there will be another bullet point or two to add.
People and pundits from across this great land and in other corners of the globe have expressed disgust over the recent actions by this person, and I certainly stand on their side. But it’s gotten to the point of being ludicrous, predictable, and even expected.
As one elected member of Congress noted: “He’s crazy, but not stupid.”
One can ascertain that his statements and actions are calculatingly caustic to draw attention and remain in the spotlight, not to get rich. Money? He’s got plenty. To speak in a colloquial manner, “he ain’t gotta worry about payin’ the rent or puttin’ food on the table.” But power? He’ll never have enough.
A potential solution? Just try ignore this monster! Well, still get pissed off, still find what he does revolting, still question the future impact on our world. But temper online commentary. Perhaps a lack of outright action is a more prudent reaction.
Me? Speaking colloquially again, “I’m gonna go ’round the corner and have a coupla beers.”
This spectacular structure was the home of bicycle legend Ignaz Schwinn, founder of the Chicago-based Schwinn Bicycle Co. St. Sylvester School now stands on the site.
By Edward M. Bury, APR, MA (aka The PRDude)
For many years, Susan and I have been supporters of Logan Square Preservation, a truly great and vital community organization. Now, every two years, LSP hosts a day-long event where those interested in historic homes can take docent-led tours.
This year, I worked with volunteers to increase awareness for the 2025 House Walk on September 20 by drafting a news story. Here’s the final version.
35th Logan Square House Walk Steps off Sept. 20 in Palmer Square Park
For the 35th year, Logan Square Preservation invites the public to walk through historic homes that represent the best of Logan’s Square’s diverse architectural style on Saturday, September 20. For the first time, the seven houses — and the accompanying vintage car show — are all clustered within easy walking distance around Palmer Square Park.
The biannual House Walk kicks off with will-call and day-of ticket sales at the historic Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church, 3062 W. Palmer Square. Open for tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the homes are prime examples of Prairie School, American Craftsman, Chicago Bungalow and other architectural styles. Many have distinctive components such as wrap-around porches, brick columns with Ionic capitals, porte cochère entrances, and dormers that add an Oriental influence.
Visitors will receive an interior tour of the homes led by trained docents and a collectable House Walk guide containing many historical photos of Palmer Square as it originally appeared. Also on view will be a historic house currently undergoing exterior restoration, with information on the process available.
Vehicle traffic will be restricted during the event, allowing for easy pedestrian access to the tour and outdoor points of interest, including several related to the Schwinn Bicycle empire. Palmer Square Park, a 7.69-acre green space that’s part of the city’s historic Boulevard System, has a storied history from the early 1900s as an avenue for cycling enthusiasts and clubs.
Ignaz Schwinn, founder of the Chicago-based Schwinn Bicycle Co., resided in a mansion at the east end of Palmer Square where the St. Sylvester School now stands. He also built the Shakespeare Flats apartment building, which can still be seen on the west end of the square. Look for the volunteer docents with vintage Schwinn bikes to hear more about Palmer Square’s Schwinn history.
And in homage to greater Logan Square’s Norwegian heritage, master woodcarver Jock Holmen, owner of Norwegian Termite, will provide woodcarving demonstrations. An artist trained in traditional carving techniques, Holman will display a carving he is making for a new Logan Square park to be dedicated to the memory of Emil Biorn, a Norwegian artist who was active in the community from 1917–1935. Biorn’s work can be seen inside several Logan Square buildings, and the land for Biorn Park, located off Logan Blvd. on Albany Ave., was donated to Logan Square Preservation, which hopes to have the site open to the public in 2026.
Other points of interest along the route include a vintage car show, where more than 50 hot rods, coupes, and sedans of various types will be on display from two local car clubs: LAMBDA Car Club (Lake Michigan Region) and City Wide Classics.
Some of the neighborhood’s many community organizations will also be on hand in Palmer Square during the House Walk to showcase the area’s many unique programs, including The Workers Cottage Initiative and the Palmer Square Park Council.
“This is our organization’s biggest event,” said Andy Schneider, President of Logan Square Preservation. “It’s a reflection of the dedication and commitment members of the Logan Square community have toward maintaining this truly unique and vibrant part of Chicago for generations to come.”
Discounted early bird tickets for the 2025 Logan Square Preservation House Walk are $35 through Sept. 14. Day-of tickets are $50 and are available at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church. Attendees can purchase a VIP Fast Pass for expedited admission to all houses for an early bird price of $115, or $150 on the day of the event.
A map of the historic Palmer Square, site of the 2025 Logan Square Preservation House Walk. An early image of Palmer Square. Vintage cars, like this red Chevy Corvair, will be on display during the House Walk. The cars on display range from modern muscle to the truly vintage. Yes, they don’t build them like this any more.
What follows is a combination of some thoughts and images from my visit last week to the TRB conference in the nation’s capital, which had to cope with some unseasonable winter weather while preparing for a monumental change due to the new administration that will take over next week.
Yes, I could use this space to offer thoughts on where the nation may be heading, but I’ll save those posts for another time. What the images and captions that follow do demonstrate is that Washington — an amazing city which contains the very foundation of our democracy — is a way cool place to visit. Yes, even after a snowfall.
The rare snowfall January 6 and 7 resulted in reduced traffic here along K Street across from Franklin Park. The scene is more akin to a northern city rather than Washington, but still beautiful and serene.Historic St. John’s Church is a short walk from my hotel. On my recent visit, I noticed this plaque on the back pew along the far right. Yes, I sat there for a while. Another compelling moment while in St. John’s Church: Someone played the pipe organ, filling the small church with beautiful and powerful music — just for me. With the Washington Monument in the distance and the U.S. Treasury on the right, I had this evening vision of a major thoroughfare in the nation’s capitol to myself.Much of Lafayette Square across from the White House was cordoned off as workers prepared for the January 20 presidential inaugural. A little snow wasn’t going to stop the construction work. And, the White House was open to visitors. On a bright, sunny morning, the Washington Monument stood majestically. Walkways were cleared of snow, testimony to the efficiency of the men and women responsible for providing access to our great public spaces across the District. One presentation that’s on my must attend list: The TRB awards for recognizing excellence in Communicating Concepts with the Public. This year’s top awards focused on programs that addressed safety in transportation.As I’ve noted often, one great benefit of my current position is the opportunity to meet and work with tremendous people from all over the world. My friend Dr. Takanori Sakai is one of those people.The giant TRB letters in the Washington Convention Center main lobby offered an ideal photo platform. For some reason, I found this rear view more captivating. Looking down Pennsylvania Avenue, the U.S. Capitol stands in the distance and flags were at half staff in respect of the recent passing of the 39th President of the United States. One excellent temporary exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery featured compelling black and white images of Hollywood movie stars from a bygone era. Okay, who is this blond bombshell?In the Presidential Portraits room at the National Portrait Gallery, purple bunting draped across the portrait of the late Jimmy Carter. History has shown that regardless of how he was viewed as a president, his life was one of honor, service and dedication.
The main gallery in the Newberry Library housing the tribute to columnist Mike Royko.
By Edward M. Bury, APR, MA (aka The PRDude)
A resolution came to me earlier this year: Each week try to do something you haven’t done before, or visit someplace you have visited ever or in a long time.
The post that follows provides an account of achieving both. I haven’t visited the Newberry Library in years, make that decades, even though this world-renowned research library is a short drive or public transit trip from home. And, although I’ve been through its doors, I don’t recall really enjoying an exhibit or using the library’s resources. So I made a commitment to visit the building on West Walton Street on the Near North Side.
But my primary reason last week for heading to the grand facility across from Washington Square Park (known colloquially as Bughouse Square) was to revel in the temporary tribute to a true icon of Chicago journalism.
The Mike Royko Exhibit at the Newberry provided visitors with a visual perspective of a print journalist who for decades chronicled all that defined Chicago — its people and politics, its graft and greatness, its neighborhoods and place in the national conversation, and lots more. While I gained a lot from the one-aisle display, I would have enjoyed a stream of audio/visual recordings of Royko offering thoughts on an election night or even one of the television commercials promoting the columnist and his work. One Royko TV spot that comes to mind — probably from the early 1970s and in black and white as I recall — had the tag line, “The guys from the old neighborhood were right. Once a bum, always a bum.”
For the record, I regularly read his columns in the long-gone Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, and Royko and I actually met one time — more on that to follow. But after visiting the Newberry exhibit, I was inspired to share perspectives on these commonalities.
Born in Chicago, Love for Chicago. Both of us were born in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, and both of us lived most of our lives in the city. We grew to recognize and accept the city’s flaws and its fascination.
The News Business. Well, it goes without saying that we both were part of the news industry, with Royko staying a newsman his entire career. And, as noted in the graphic below, we both had careers at the legendary wire service City News Bureau of Chicago. We probably used the same typewriter; manual of course.
Chicago Style Softball. I know he played played 16-inch Chicago softball, and I’m sure he wrote columns on the subject. Me, I played as a kid on sandlot fields and through college; I have two broken fingers on my left hand as proof.
Eastern European Ancestry. His biography states that Royko was of Polish and Ukrainian heritage. Me? My ancestors immigrated here from Poland. His parents owned a tavern in the old neighborhood, and the family lived upstairs, making Royko a “flat-above-a-tavern” kid. My maternal grandfather owned a tavern on Carpenter Street, and my mother and her siblings were raised in, you guessed it, the flat above the tavern.
Enjoying a Few at the Bar. Here’s my “Royko in Person” story. Way back around 1978, I was having one at the Billy Goat on a summer evening, and who comes down the stairs? Yes, Royko. He sat one stool away to my right. We nodded. He ordered a beer (and probably a shot), and we got to talking about the Cubs, who were on the little TV in the corner above the bar. We both agreed they had lousy pitching, especially in relief. He finished his drink, paid, and left. Yes, that’s it. Sorry if you expected an account of a deep conversation over Chicago politics.
Now, enjoy a few images from my visit to the Royko exhibit. It runs through September 28; but his perspectives on Chicago and life are eternal.
Royko and I have these two traits in common: We are Chicago born and raised, and we worked at the City News Bureau of Chicago. A corner bar near the el. Hey, I’ve been to a few of those. A Gold Star if you know the reference to Slats in this cartoon. Ah, the staples of a reporter back in the day. Did Royko really smoke Carltons? Thought he would have been a Pall Mall kind of guy. Good late night or any time reading. For the record, I have read “Boss” and too many of his columns to count.
The images contained within this post all were taken last week — with my brand new Samsung Galaxy A13 I might add — during a four-day visit to beautiful and scenic Southwest Michigan, just hours from our home in Chicago, but far enough away to provide a much-needed break from work and daily life.
What’s more, the trip provided an opportunity to disconnect somewhat from all the unfortunate developments (at least from my perspective) that have taken place within our nation in recent months, developments that assuredly will sharpen the schism between right and left, somewhat validating the growing belief that the democratic process — the bedrock of this nation — is irreparably broken.
Yes, we spent valuable quality time visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Grand Rapids and two nights in a quaint hotel perched along the Black River in relaxing South Haven; as noted from the images here, stunningly gorgeous Midwestern summer weather punctuated by clear blue skies and warm temperatures was prevalent.
Yet television reports and digital messages on my new handheld made it challenging to disassociate news emanating from the White House, Capitol Hill and the U.S. Supreme Court from enjoying the simple pleasures of life in late June.
There’s no need to expound upon the specifics. If you’re following news disseminated by reputable media organizations, you are aware of the serious issues facing the nation during this election year. Draw your own conclusions and vote your conscious.
All I ask is that the next time we venture out of town, the vitriol, the vindictiveness, and the vehement rhetoric so pervasive today will have subsided significantly. Ah, one can only remain positive when confronting obstacles.
Now, enjoy these five visuals.
The pond at the Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids is a truly world-class living museum. We especially enjoyed the Japanese Friendship Garden.The Southshore Concert Band, a volunteer group of musicians, performed a wide range of classic Americana songs on a flawless evening in South Haven’s Riverfront Park. My favorite was “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town).”A view of one of the many marinas along the Black River in South Haven. Downriver, I visited the Michigan Maritime Museum, which is being expanded.An orchard at the Dutch Farms Market just north of South Haven reflects the area’s agricultural prominence. We gathered with other visitors for the sunset from the South Beach lighthouse in South Haven on the longest day of the year in 2022. A truly mesmerizing and tranquil moment.
Prdude's Blog 
