Hunting history
I SAW YOUR ARTICLE about the majestic 2,000- year-old column presented to Chicago after the World’s Fair (“Sidewalks,” June 7). I am a World’s Fair buff and would love to know exactly where this pillar is located. Is it by the Field Museum? I cannot quite tell from the photograph of it with the cyclist. I would love to seek it out the next time I get downtown. My husband and I have sought out other relics that remain from the Chicago fairs, like the bar in Morris that was from the Columbian Exposition, and the homes from the Century of Progress that were taken across the lake by barge to Beverly Shores, and Dunn’s bridge in Indiana, said to be made from parts of the Ferris Wheel of 1893. So I would appreciate any assistance you can provide on the location of this historical piece, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention.
DONNA RODEGHIERO / Beecher
Editor’s NOTE: The Balbo column is just east of Soldier Field.
YOU SHOULD KNOW that Gen. Italo Balbo’s beliefs were not always those of Mussolini, and his death was likely attributable to those beliefs.
While Balbo indeed helped Mussolini rise to power, and while he himself worked his way up the power ladder, he also was the only ranking Italian Fascist to publicly criticize his country’s alliance with Germany. (Balbo favored joining with Britain.) He felt Italy would become the inferior partner in the relationship.
Although never publicly chastised for this break with the party line, many feel Balbo’s death was a Mussolini-ordered assassination.
In June of 1940, while landing on the Italian airfield at Tobruk, he was shot down by Italian gunners and killed. Although Rome claimed it was a case of “friendly fire,” there was at the time (and still is) the suspicion Balbo’s death was punishment for his statements about Italian political policy.
So while you may be correct to use the word “sadly” when telling about the naming of a Chicago street after Balbo, perhaps the saddest part of it was how someone who has given his total loyalty to a particular politician and party can be destoyed by his comrades for having his own thoughts.
And if you think about Chicago’s politics, Balbo may be the most aptly named street in the city.
LES KLOSS / Homewood
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Honoring vets
I enjoyed your article about the honor flight for World War II veterans to see the memorial in Washington, D.C. (“Sidewalks,” May 31) Both of my parents served in World War II. My dad passed away in 2000 but my mother (Mollie Weinstein Schaffer) is now 92 and living in assisted living in Vernon Hills. My mother was a WAC stationed in England, France and Germany.
She was not a nurse nor a high-ranking offi cer, just someone who thought it was her patriotic duty to serve her country. My mother is unable to travel, so she cannot see the memorial in Washington. Thank you for continuing to write about WW II veterans.
CYNDEE SCHAFFER / Northbrook
GREAT PIECE on the WW II vets!
How can I make a donation and help honor them at the next return to Midway?
JOHN THOMPSON / Hoffman Estates
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Slow down!
Regarding the “One Burning Question” from Gnashing my Teeth in Naperville (May 31):
Gnash, get up 15 minutes earlier so you’re not in such a huge rush to find a parking place to catch your train. . . . I sure wouldn’t want to be on the road with you as you barrel your way to the train, nor in the same parking lot as you fly down the aisles looking for a spot.
I do agree with you in regard to cars, trucks or SUVs that use two spots or can’t park between the lines … perhaps in their rush to catch a train they didn’t have time to reverse and get into the spot better, as they might miss their train.
If you have time to make up little signs and can get out of your vehicle to place them on vehicles parked over the line, then maybe you do have more time before your train than you thought.
There are always gonna be idiots and self-centered people in the world that don’t care about anyone or anything other than themselves; be better than them. I also would advise you to not sweat the small stuff in life because, believe me, your own life can spiral out of control when all the “big stuff” is gone.
You should feel lucky you have a job to go to at this point!
NADINE SALAMON / Downers Grove
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A familiar scene
We absolutely loved the text and photo in the Magazine of the family reading the newspaper (“Sunday,” April 19).
My husband and I could easily incorporate ourselves into a Sunday morning with the Trib, with coffee and messy hair and slippers– it is us!
We love to hold a paper full of news to share, and we had quite a chuckle over the photo. Please let the Millers know that countless Chicagoans share the same scene, in the same mode, as they.
THE THOMPSON FAMILY / Bull Valley
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Write us
Send mail to The Editor, Chicago Tribune Magazine, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, or to tribmag@tribune.com.
