Mary Schmich
chicagotribune.com
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Mary:
Column: Not so long ago — 29 years — I started writing a column. This will be the last. Thank you.
Through the years, people from every part of the city have shared their stories with me — meaning with you, the Tribune’s reader, writes Mary Schmich in her farewell column. I learned from all of them, was changed by them all. → Read More
Column: In 93-year-old Frances Hall’s life, there’s a history of race and America
Frances Hall was born, in the 1920s, in tiny York, South Carolina. Like columnist Mary Schmich's father, her father had wanted a boy. “Since I was not, I set out to be the best girl I could be,” Hall wrote to Schmich. “My father’s wish helped me.” → Read More
Column: 9 Things to Like Right Now: Long days, Bisa Butler’s quilts and ‘Lupin’
Every now and then, columnist Mary Schmich makes a list of 9 things she likes. Here’s one for the beginning of summer 2021. → Read More
Column: Above and beyond: How one school superintendent has helped protect his whole community from COVID
As the superintendent of Hillside District 93, Kevin Suchinski feels the weight of keeping his students and teachers safe during the pandemic. → Read More
Column: A pig roast. A ride in a Mustang convertible. A music teacher leaves life still searching for joy.
Beloved music teacher leaves life still searching for joy. → Read More
Column: It’s Pride Month. Let’s take a moment to remember Jon-Henri Damski, Chicago’s gay philosopher and chronicler
AIDS Garden Chicago's groundbreaking stirred recollections for Mary Schmich: "I suddenly saw a ghost. He was standing there at the edge of the ceremony, a man with warm, shrewd blue eyes, wearing a Cubs caps and a tie-dye shirt, scribbling into a notebook." → Read More
Column: It’s summer. Again. Make your summer resolutions before it’s gone again.
Summer is our liberation, a liberation that has never felt as acute as it does this year, says columnist Mary Schmich, who offers her resolutions for things to do in the coming season. → Read More
Column: That time in France when Sen. John Warner hoisted me on his shoulders. And no one took a photo.
The year was 1984, and columnist Mary Schmich was a reporter at the Orlando Sentinel, dispatched to Normandy to cover the 40th anniversary of the American D-Day invasion of France during World War II. → Read More
Column: On a walk in a park in a different part of town you can learn surprising things. Try it.
Column: Here’s an idea for how to make your summer more interesting: Visit a park outside your neighborhood. Walk around. Look around. Talk to a stranger. It will expand your world. → Read More
Column: Honorable? Overwhelmed? Disappointing? What one word would you use to describe Mayor Lori Lightfoot?
Columnist Mary Schmich asked people to pick a word — just one — to describe Mayor Lori Lightfoot on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of her time running this great, chaotic city. → Read More
Column: Goodbye to the year of living day by day. For better and worse, it’s time to plan again.
Lately we’re able to plan again. Vaccines are available. Mask requirements are easing. The return to planning is liberating and exciting. But it has its downside, writes columnist Mary Schmich. → Read More
Column: Hey, don’t throw away those masks yet!
The CDC's new mask guidance is prompting many to wonder: what should I do with all those masks now? → Read More
Column: A new TrumPoem: The leader of the GOP? It isn’t Liz, it’s me, me, me.
A TrumPoem about Liz Cheney, based on the words and action of our former president, Donald Trump. → Read More
Column: ‘A one-of-a-kind person and mentor’: Jim Mabie’s legacy includes helping 3 young men dream big
How Jim Mabie helped 3 young men dream big. → Read More
Column: In praise of our mother’s best friends
On Mother's Day, take a minute to remember not just your mom but also her best friends, who play a special role in your life — and hers. → Read More
Column: Instead of politics and doom, let’s talk about birds and chipmunks
Let’s talk birds and chipmunks for change. → Read More
Column: My laptop’s in the shop. So I did something radical — wrote a column by hand.
How will I even know how many words I’ve written without my trusty laptop to tell me? → Read More
Column: Ready to go back to the gym? Eat inside a restaurant? Fly? Take our Pandemic Self-Assessment Quiz
A Pandemic Self-Assessment Quiz from Mary Schmich. → Read More
Column: Remembering the death dates of people you love can be like remembering their birthdays
When we remember a death, we’re also honoring a life. And while it’s possible to dwell too much in the past, anniversaries offer a chance to unite the past and the present. → Read More
Column: The journey of Heather McGhee, the Chicago-born author of ‘The Sum of Us,’ a bestseller on what racism costs us all
The author, who grew up on the South Side and in Evanston, traveled around the country to understand how race infuses questions of “belonging, competition and status,” and how restrictive policies aimed at Black people can also hurt white people. → Read More