Bill McLean

HONOR BOUND

Vietnam War veteran Lonnie Givens Sr. could have visited the three-quarter replica Vietnam Veterans Memorial on a number of occasions when it arrived in the Chicago area on “The Wall That Heals” Tour. The North Chicago native and Gurnee resident chose to skip the opportunities. “I was treated terribly when I returned from Vietnam,” says

WELL DONE, BALLYHOO

IT’S A MONDAY or a Tuesday in Lake Forest. Casually dressed diners enter Sophia Steak on Laurel Avenue at night, glance at the surroundings, and are immediately struck by the warmth of the place. The employees’ smiles—here and there and everywhere— make it feel even toastier. Orders are placed. A conversation commences. The steakhouse vibe

No One-Hit Wonder

Glen Roberts sits inside a Starbucks in his adopted hometown of Barrington. It’s mid-afternoon. Earlier, in Rosemont, the former AbbVie director of international distribution had practiced with members of his senior softball team. But Roberts isn’t here to talk about his baseball, he’s here to go to bat for Bravo Waukegan! Roberts started his three-year

POSITIVITY PERSONIFIED

CHRIS BRENNAN’S wheelchair sits in a corner of his garage in Lake Forest. It hasn’t rolled an inch in three years. “You could call that a victory,” a smiling Brennan, 65, says after nodding at the static transport on an August afternoon. Victory? Bigger than that. You could make an airtight case that Brennan has

Comic Confidential

Did you hear? Jim Gaffigan—THE Jim Gaffigan—plans to grace Barrington again with his hilariousness in late September. Country heard the chatter early last month. Maybe, we thought, Gaffigan wanted to return to good ol’ Barrington to perform before a private audience and raise gobs of money for another heartwarming cause. You see, Gaffigan has the

Get Your Scottish Up

IF A MASSIVE assemblage of bagpipers, shrilling the hymn “Amazing Grace” atop a vast expanse of grassland after a moment of silence at sunset, doesn’t give you head-to-toe chills, check for a pulse. Immediately. You may need medical attention. Shelby and Elizabeth Pruett have never failed to feel such a rush of excitement during that

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Bill McLean

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