When I was 10 years old in 1968, I first started reading a daily newspaper regularly.
Mike Royko was responsible for this. It is his fault that I could laugh, cry and be angry about Chicago aldermen, the Cubs and other miscreants.
Royko has to take responsibility for a lot of things. In junior high I directed a play based on his book “Boss.” Somewhere along the line I became a journalist and columnist for a while. Unlike him, I didn’t stick with it and strayed–even running for the Illinois Senate. I’m not sure he would have approved.
Royko knew his columns could arouse emotions. I wonder if he suspected they could influence lives? Seems a shame to have to wait until he is dead to tell him that, but he probably would have been embarrassed if I had written him a fan letter.
