Robert E. Mann was a young lawyer in 1962 when Chicago’s 5th Ward Democratic organization slated him as a candidate for the state legislature.
But it didn’t take long for the unabashed liberal to break from the machine. Mr. Mann would later run as an independent Democrat in every subsequent race.
“He couldn’t resist doing what he wanted to do,” said Sylvia, his wife of 50 years.
Mr. Mann, 79, who represented his Hyde Park district in the Illinois legislature for 16 years, died of pneumonia Wednesday, March 26, in Chicago’s Provident Hospital, his family said.
When he arrived in Springfield, Mr. Mann found a group of kindred spirits in Abner Mikva, Paul Simon and Anthony Scariano. The group of young, independent liberals were roommates and seatmates in the Capitol.
Mr. Mann and the rest of the group, known in Springfield as the “Kosher Nostra,” were champions of liberal causes and relished in bucking the party line, said Mikva, who would later become a federal judge.
During his time in the statehouse, Mr. Mann considered himself a voice for the underrepresented, his daughter Elise Mann said.
Mr. Mann was known to debate on the House floor for hours on bills against the death penalty, to increase welfare benefits, for gun control and to protect the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
After the heyday of 1960s liberalism came to an end and his roommates moved on, Mr. Mann stayed in Springfield and became known as the “lonely liberal” who wouldn’t budge from railing against poverty, slumlords and discrimination.
“Even when the word ‘liberal’ changed, it didn’t for Bob,” Mikva said. “He always believed that government was a force for good.”
In 1977 Mr. Mann gathered a group of supporters in a Hyde Park home and told those assembled that he would not seek re-election.
He thanked his supporters for “always letting me be my own man. That, from the bottom of my heart, was the most satisfying thing about my service in Springfield,” according to a Tribune story. He supported Carol Moseley Braun in her successful bid to replace him.
After retiring from the legislature, he practiced law and retained an unquenchable interest in news and politics, his daughter said.
“Our dinner table was the liberal version of ‘The McLaughlin Group,'” Elise Mann said. “You had better come to the table knowing what was going on in the world because he was keenly aware of local and national news.”
Mr. Mann’s parents instilled a deep social consciousness in him at an early age, family members said.
He graduated from the University of Chicago with degrees in law and business, his daughter said.
Other survivors include another daughter, Laurie; two sons, Stuart and Stephen; a brother, Richard; and seven grandchildren.
Services are set for noon Tuesday at KAM Isaiah Israel, 1100 E. Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago.
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aaguilar@tribune.com
