The best columns by the award-winning Chicago Tribune writer, on diverse topics like family, loss, mental health, advice, and the Windy City.
Over the last two decades, Mary Schmich's biweekly column in the Chicago Tribune has offered advice, humor, and discerning commentary on a broad array of topics including family, milestones, mental illness, writing, and life in Chicago. Schmich won the 2012 Pulitzer for Commentary for "her wide range of down-to-earth columns that reflect the character and capture the culture of her famed city."
This second edition-updated to include Schmich's best pieces, since its original publication-collects her ten Pulitzer-winning columns along with more than 150 others, creating a compelling collection that reflects Schmich's thoughtful and insightful sensibility.
The book is, divided into thirteen sections, with topics focused on loss and survival, relationships, Chicago, travel, holidays, reading and writing, and more. Schmich's 1997 "Wear Sunscreen" column (which has had a life of its own as a falsely, attributed Kurt Vonnegut commencement speech) is included, as well as her columns focusing on the demolition of Chicago's infamous Cabrini-Green housing project. One of the most moving sections is her twelve-part series with U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, as the latter reflected on rebuilding her life after the horrific murders of her mother and husband.
