Moseley Braun’s biggest sin? Royko said it was using ketchup

The late, great Mike Royko, Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago newspaper columnist, would have had a ball covering the Feb. 22 city election. Every one of his former readers can agree on that. From Slats Grobnik, his literary alter-ego, to more direct approaches deflating political balloons, the City Hall runoffs would be target-rich turf for Mike’s one-of-a-kind style. Here is the latest segment in a periodic “Royko Retro” series: A Chicago Tribune column he wrote about one of the current candidates.

By Mike Royko
(November 21, 1995)

This simple little quiz is directed at those who love hot dogs. Not any hot dog, but the true, classic Chicago hot dog. The finest hot dog known to man.
Look at the following recipe and see if something is wrong. If so, what?

Now it can be told: How Mike Royko once influenced Chicago balloting

The late, great Mike Royko, Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago newspaper columnist, would have had a ball covering the Feb. 22 city election. Every one of his former readers can agree on that. From Slats Grobnik, his literary alter-ego, to more direct approaches deflating political balloons, the City Hall runoffs would be target-rich turf for Mike’s one-of-a-kind style and knowledge. Here is the latest segment in a periodic “Royko Retro” series leading to Feb. 22 voting for a new mayor and aldermen.

Who: Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune baseball writer

Paul spent two years with Mike in the 1980s at The Tribune before moving to the sports department, where he became a beat writer in 1997 covering the Cubs (Royko’s favorite team). He describes his job with the famed newspaper columnist as “two grueling years as his reporter/researcher/Italian sausage fetcher/ bank check depositor and eventually learned how to become a reporter.”

 

Q: Do you have any favorite stories to tell from your time with Royko? Any memories that stick out more than others?

PS: Too many stories to mention, but I guess my favorite was when he decided that he wanted night baseball at Wrigley Field and was certain that most Cubs fans agreed with him. He decided to run a poll and asked fans to send him postcards saying “yes” or “no” to lights.

Wonder how Mike Royko would have treated election? Try his Facebook page

The late, great Mike Royko, Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago newspaper columnist, would have had a ball covering the Feb. 22 city election. Every one of his former readers can agree on that. From Slats Grobnik, his literary alter-ego, to more direct approaches deflating political balloons, the City Hall runoffs would be target-rich turf for Mike’s one-of-a-kind style and knowledge. Here is the second segment in a periodic “Royko Retro” series leading to Feb. 22 voting for a new mayor and aldermen.

Would Mike Royko have embraced new technology?

Well, it’s been over 12 years since he wrote his last column, but he does have a Facebook page.

Chico would have intrigued Royko, says former Chicago Sun-Times colleague

The late, great Mike Royko, Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago newspaper columnist, would have had a ball covering the Feb. 22 city election. Every one of his former readers can agree on that. From Slats Grobnik, his literary alter-ego, to more direct approaches deflating political balloons, the City Hall runoffs would be target-rich turf for Mike’s one-of-a-kind style and knowledge. Here is the first segment in a periodic “Royko Retro” series leading to Feb. 22 voting for a new mayor and aldermen.