Richard Ray

Richard Ray is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Author George Saunders in the Gold Coast neighborhood in Chicago on Jan. 9, 2013. (Alex Garcia / Chicago Tribune)

George Saunders comes home to talk about his new book ‘Vigil’: ‘I could never not be a South Side of Chicago guy’

February 2, 2026 at 10:23 a.m.

The best-selling author's new novel is "Vigils." He now lives in California but counts his years in Chicago as the most formative in his life.

A snowy owl lands near Montrose Beach on Nov. 24, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Richard Ray: Doomed snowy owl expedition reminds my son and me of Chicago’s year-round natural splendor

December 19, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

I’d been making plans since I first heard the snowy owls landed on Lake Michigan's shore, but many things postponed our search.

Ensemble member Austin Pendleton and Freeman Coffey in “The Sunset Limited” by Cormac McCarthy, directed by Sheldon Patinkin at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in 2006. (Michael Brosilow)

From a Steppenwolf play to a violin shop, writer Cormac McCarthy’s memory lives on in Chicago

June 25, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Two hours before a 2006 performance at Steppenwolf Theatre, writer Cormac McCarthy asked actor Austin Pendleton an unexpected question.

Author Richard Ray's son, Phil, center, in black bodysuit, participates in his final middle school Halloween parade.

Richard Ray: Is my son’s last Halloween parade supposed to feel like this big of a deal?

November 3, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

Lukewarm coffee spilled from my thermos and onto my hands as I jogged down Clark Street, my boots splashing in the dingy puddles. Work emails had kept me from leaving...

Cat de Merode, left, and Melissa Sanders serve lunch in 2006 at Glenn's Diner in Chicago.

Richard Ray: Glenn’s Diner: The life, death and lasting impact of a North Side institution

August 12, 2022 at 6:17 p.m.

I first stepped into Glenn's Diner nearly 15 years ago looking to earn beer money as a student at DePaul University. My friend was washing dishes there and said he...

Cops: Man suffers ‘medical distress,’ dies after causing 5-vehicle crash

May 9, 2019 at 11:45 a.m.

A man is dead after he was driving at a high rate of speed while suffering "some type of medical distress," police said, before causing a multi-vehicle accident in Niles...

In this file photo, raw chef Tony Villalobos, center, restocks shellfish while working at the Davis Street Fishmarket's raw bar in downtown Evanston on Saturday, August 4, 2007.

In Facebook farewell, Evanston eatery tells critical Yelpers to jump in lake

August 21, 2019 at 11:34 p.m.

A Facebook post from Davis Street Fishmarket, an Evanston staple since 1985, announced the restaurant's closing with a few choice words for critical Yelp users on Saturday. The whimsical but...

Journalists and local residents surround the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad. Bin Laden lived for the past five to six years in the compound deep inside Pakistan where the al-Qaida leader was killed by U.S. forces, President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser said on Tuesday. Bin Laden, lived in Afghanistan before a 2001 U.S.-led invasion helped topple its Taliban regime.

CIA ‘live tweets’ raid on anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death

June 21, 2019 at 1:05 p.m.

On Sunday, the verified CIA Twitter account began the not-so-clandestine operation of retroactively live tweeting the raid on the compound in the mountains of Pakistan that ended with the death...

President Barack Obama speaks to students and guests at the University of Chicago's School of Law, on April 7, 2016.

Obama’s ‘black lesbian from Skokie’ comment sends suburb trending

May 15, 2019 at 5:21 p.m.

A comment made by President Barack Obama at the University of Chicago Law School regarding his nomination for the Supreme Court sent the northern suburb of Skokie trending on Twitter...

A Chicago police investigator photographs the scene of a crash at Lake Street and Hamlin Avenue Avenue that injured several children early on Feb. 27, 2016.

Man in custody in crash that injured 4 in East Garfield Park

May 23, 2019 at 2:27 a.m.

The driver of a Mercedes sedan is in custody after being involved in an accident that injured four people including two children Saturday morning in the East Garfiled Park neighborhood,...

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