Latin School of Chicago

Rick Kogan '69 Beloved Chicago newspaperman and storyteller Rick Kogan remembers his first byline at the age of 16 like it was yesterday. Kogan wrote a withering review of the book How to Get a Teen-age Boy and What to do with him when You Get Him, for the Chicago Sun-Times. "I was a teenage boy, and in my opinion the author's advice was ludicrous," recalls Kogan, who was asked by the paper's editor for a teenager's insight. The review set the course for Kogan's life, and more than 40 years later he still feels the thrill of that first experience. "Much like sex, you never forget your first byline. It was transformative." Except for a few interludes as a lifeguard, truck driver and cabbie, Kogan has been a newspaperman from before he graduated from Latin, and has covered many of Chicago's biggest stories and best-known personalities. During the summer between junior and senior year, Kogan worked for the Sun-Times and the now-defunct Chicago Daily News during the history-making 1968 Democratic National Convention. After that he had no desire to leave Chicago for college or to devote his time to anything but journalism. "Real life seemed to be happening on the streets in those days," he explains. Kogan went on to work for the Daily News until it folded, covered crime, politics and Chicago's nightlife scene for the Sun-Times, and joined the Chicago Tribune in 1989. After stints as a reporter and editor, he has most recently worked for the Chicago Tribune Magazine. He also has authored 12 books and hosted several radio shows, including WGN-AM's Sunday Papers. Especially close to Kogan's heart has been the popular "Sidewalks" column, which he he has written for the Tribune Magazine for 11 years with photographer Charles Osgood. A collection, Sidewalks, was published in 2006, and Sidewalks II was published this fall, coinciding with an exhibition at the city's gallery at 72 E. Randolph. In the column, Kogan and Osgood feature the hidden gems and lesser-known characters of Chicago. "I can't imagine any kid having been in Dolezal's class not still reading for the mere and immense joy of reading." 36 Latin Magazine "It has been a real inspiration to find the unsung poets wandering the streets or standing behind the counter in the deli." A number of the stories he has heard along the way "have changed the way I think about life," he says. Reading, writing and story telling are in Kogan's blood. In fact, his earliest memory is of the sound of his father, Herman Kogan, a book critic and author, clicking away on his typewriter. He was always surrounded by books and writers, among them Chicago icons Studs Terkel and Nelson Algren. At Latin, English teacher Richard Dolezal continued to encourage what had started at home. "My teachers, primarily Dolezal, were palpably passionate about literature. And, I can't imagine any kid having been in Dolezal's class not still reading for the mere and immense joy of reading." The experience continues to inspire Kogan as a writer. And although his world of newspapers is shrinking, it is a vocation he expects to follow for the rest of his life. "There has probably not been a day where I haven't written something. It is as natural to me now as breathing or waking up with various aches and pains. " •

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