"Windy City" story--a few thoughts

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

     A few thoughts on the "Windy City" story today in the Chicago Tribune.
Nathan Bierma deserves great credit for being the first Chicago journalist to contact Barry Popik, double-check with several ads-l members, run some of the material by both us and Barry again and then get the story right. No doubt additional information will surface, but at least for now Bierma's story represents the state of the art. The Dana myth is dead. Barry wanted a stake put through its heart, and Bierma did just that.

     As far as I can tell, the Chicago Public Library winds up with egg all over its face. So what if Bierma doesn't mention Barry's name in the first few paragraphs? Bierma is setting the stage for Barry's dramatic entrance into the drama. And if the issue is reduced to a contest--Barry vs. the CPL--Bierma leaves no doubt whose side he's on. Barry, you've won. Do you hear? You've won.

    You've brought honor to yourself and more importantly to the parents who raised you. I'm sure they were proud of you in their lifetime and would no doubt be especially proud as your work increasingly gains the recognition it deserves. As my mother, now also deceased, would have put it, "They'd be kvelling."

All good wishes,
Jerry