http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog TO LOVE MERCY portrays 1940s Chicago from the South Side to Riverview -- with stops at Comiskey Park (White Sox), Bronzeville, Midway Airport, Maxwell Street and the Loop -- with a focus on two boys, one from Bronzeville, one from Hyde Park. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:55:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's been hard to concentrate. All week. Monday I couldn't write, so I assuaged some guilt and manned the phones for Obama for six hours. Tuesday I couldn't write, think or do anything -- except vote, then plan for the big evening. Our dear friends Nick and Tory were coming ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/11/05/paste-on-a-big-smile/ When I relocated from Chicago to Washington DC in 1969, my first job was as a reporter for National Journal, then three weeks away from publishing its first issue. My beat was consumer affairs and communications. The principal agencies I covered were the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/11/02/one-more-reason-to-vote/                      "There are no atheists in foxholes, and no ideologues in financial crises."                       -- Federal Reserve Chm. Ben Bernanke, quoted in today's New York Times As a direct-marketing copywriter (call it junk mail if you must), I've spent a good deal of my adult life following first principles: Sell fear, greed ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/09/21/were-all-socialists-now/ I'm typing this with nine fingers. Let's see how far I get before the anesthetic wears off. I just returned from Suburban Hospital in Bethesda MD, where kindly Dr. Bieber removed a cyst from under the nail cuticle of my long finger. I had not encountered the term "long finger" previously, ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/09/14/weird-medicine/ The Bobs, as anyone knows who has read my first novel TO LOVE MERCY, was a legendary roller-coaster at the old Riverview Amusement Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Riverview, once the “World’s Largest Amusement Park,” was torn down in 1967, leaving not a trace except in the memories of millions ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/07/15/goodbye-to-the-bobs/ My recent posting about my 50th high school reunion drew a response I'd like to share. Barbara Douglas Paulus was graduated from Rich Twp. High School, Park Forest IL, one year ahead of me. She organized her own class's 50th reunion. Her class was small though and, unfortunately, so was the ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/06/06/rich-high-redux/ I thought I was a nerd in high school, but I was mistaken. This is a story of jealousy, hatred, and how I discovered my error. My high school, Rich Township (now Rich East), is in Park Forest IL, a suburb 35 miles south of downtown Chicago. “PF” was carved out ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/05/27/jealousy-and-hatred-a-high-school-story/ A month ago, everyone I knew was elated about the presidential campaign. Now everyone I know just wants it to go away. Barack has acquired a barnacle called Rev. Wright. Rev. Wright reminds me of Billy Carter (anyone remember Billy?), who climbed out of a beer bottle to become a ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/04/30/woe-is-we/ The kids had finally succeeded in pissing me off. It was the fourth day of my five-day stint as Writer in Residence at Thurgood Marshall Middle School on Chicago's Northwest Side. Each of my four classes had been wonderful except this one -- yet just the day before, these kids had ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/04/04/my-inner-teacher/ I have white friends, people who ought to know better, who are shocked, shocked that a minister of the cloth would say the things Rev. Jeremiah Wright has said. Rev. Wright, in case you've been sleeping under a rock, is the retired pastor of Barack Obama's church in Chicago. He has ... http://tolovemercy.com/frank_joseph_blog/2008/03/21/golden-opportunity/