Bill McLean

Big Cat’s Wildcat

THE LAST THING former Chicago Bears offensive tackle James “Big Cat” Williams wanted to be along a high school football sideline last fall was a distraction. That’s akin to Paul Bunyan wanting to appear inconspicuous in a sandbox. You see, Williams stood 6-foot-7 and weighed more than 300 pounds when he created countless acres of

Selling Time

The svelte iteration of Norm from the television sitcom Cheers, a regular at Teddy O’Brian’s in Highwood is a huge fan of the game show Jeopardy! He watches it regularly in the afternoon at the inimitable watering hole on Sheridan Road, and, yes, everybody knows his name. He answers to “Bob” when he’s nowhere near

The Force is with Him

The wide eyes of the forever-fifth-grader in Dr. Ken Hyllberg never blink. Neither do the array of items depicting characters from his favorite movie franchise, Star Wars, that adorn his office— the Principal’s office—at Arnett C. Lines Elementary School in Barrington. “I will be 50 in December, although I feel and look much older,” says

Pivot 101

The puck was supposed to drop at the start of a men’s hockey playoff game at Lake Forest College in mid-March. It never left a referee’s hand. Foresters junior runner, Tianna Beilke, was having the time of her life around ovals, her track times steadily melting in chilly temps. She had to stop running, competitively,

Toon-ed In

The credits begin to roll. Julia Samborski’s 10-year-old mind races. Seconds later, following the premiere episode of the animated mystery- comedy series Gravity Falls in 2012, Samborski’s eyeballs morph into small planets. She then continues to read name after name, as each scrolls north on the television screen. Transfixed and delighted, Samborski—who had identified with

Multifaceted

It is Sophia Denison’s turn to answer questions—instead of being the one to formulate and deliver them. Finally. “This is different for me,” the Barrington High School (BHS) junior, sitting at a table in the school’s library, says with a smile to a journalist at the end of another busy school day. “I interviewed 10,

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Bill McLean

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