The House That Madigan Built

The House That Madigan Built

Author: Ray Long

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2022-03-03

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0252053486

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Michael Madigan rose from the Chicago machine to hold unprecedented power as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. In his thirty-six years wielding the gavel, Madigan outlasted governors, passed or blocked legislation at will, and outmaneuvered virtually every attempt to limit his reach. Veteran reporter Ray Long draws on four decades of observing state government to provide the definitive political analysis of Michael Madigan. Secretive, intimidating, shrewd, power-hungry--Madigan mesmerized his admirers and often left his opponents too beaten down to oppose him. Long vividly recreates the battles that defined the Madigan era, from stunning James Thompson with a lightning-strike tax increase, to pressing for a pension overhaul that ultimately failed in the courts, to steering the House toward the Rod Blagojevich impeachment. Long also shines a light on the machinery that kept the Speaker in power. Head of a patronage army, Madigan ruthlessly used his influence and fundraising prowess to reward loyalists and aid his daughter’s electoral fortunes. At the same time, he reshaped bills to guarantee he and his Democratic troops shared in the partisan spoils of his legislative victories. Yet Madigan’s position as the state’s seemingly invulnerable power broker could not survive scandals among his close associates and the widespread belief that his time as Speaker had finally reached its end. Unsparing and authoritative, The House That Madigan Built is the page-turning account of one the most powerful politicians in Illinois history.


In Her Own Words

In Her Own Words

Author: Jennifer Kelly

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2013-06-01

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 0252094832

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This collection of new interviews with twenty-five accomplished female composers substantially advances our knowledge of the work, experiences, compositional approaches, and musical intentions of a diverse group of creative individuals. With personal anecdotes and sometimes surprising intimacy and humor, these wide-ranging conversations represent the diversity of women composing music in the United States from the mid-twentieth century into the twenty-first. The composers work in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, multimedia, or collaborative forms for the stage, film, and video games. Their interviews illuminate questions about the status of women composers in America, the role of women in musical performance and education, the creative process and inspiration, the experiences and qualities that contemporary composers bring to their craft, and balancing creative and personal lives. Candidly sharing their experiences, advice, and views, these vibrant, thoughtful, and creative women open new perspectives on the prospects and possibilities of making music in a changing world.


Powerhouse

Powerhouse

Author: Taylor Pensoneau

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781566252898

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Former State Senator William Arrington revolutionized the political climate of Illinois, leaving behind the legacy of its modern-day legislature. Today, almost two decades after having dictated his memoirs from his death bed, his story is told.


Remake, Remodel

Remake, Remodel

Author: Brooke Erin Duffy

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2013-10-30

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0252095227

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What is a magazine? For decades, women's magazines were regularly published, print-bound guidebooks aimed at neatly defined segments of the female audience. Crisp pages, a well-composed visual aesthetic, an intimate tone, and a distinctive editorial voice were among the hallmarks of women's glossies up through the turn of this century. Yet amidst an era of convergent media technologies, participatory culture, and new demands from advertisers, questions about the identity of women's magazines have been cast up for reflection. Remake, Remodel: Women's Magazines in the Digital Age offers a unique glimpse inside the industry and reveals how executives and content creators are remaking their roles, their audiences, and their products at this critical historic juncture. Through in-depth interviews with women's magazine producers, an examination of hundreds of trade press reports, and in-person observations at industry summits, Brooke Erin Duffy chronicles a fascinating shift in print culture and technology from the magazine as object to the magazine as brand. She draws on these findings to contribute to timely debates about media producers' labor conditions, workplace hierarchies, and creative processes in light of transformed technologies and media economies.


Preacher

Preacher

Author: Roger A. Bruns

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9780252070754

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Born in Iowa during the Civil War, Billy Sunday rose to fame as the fastest man in baseball during his career with the Chicago White Stockings in the 1880s. In this account of Billy Sunday's life, the author unfolds the story of modern evangelism.


The Poet and the Dream Girl

The Poet and the Dream Girl

Author: Carl Sandburg

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780252068492

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"These letters reveal the thoughts of two fine, strong minds drawn to each other first by their interest in socialism, then by their love of poetry and a similarity of ethics and ideals. My mother recognized this in his early prose and poetry. They learned so much about each other from these letters, yet it seems extraordinary that there was so little personal contact."-- From the introduction by Margaret Sandburg


It's How We Play the Game

It's How We Play the Game

Author: Ed Stack

Publisher: Scribner

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1982116927

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Porchlight’s Best Leadership & Strategy Book of The Year An inspiring memoir from the CEO of DICK’s Sporting Goods that is “not only entertaining but will be of great value to any entrepreneur” (Phil Knight, New York Times bestselling author of Shoe Dog). It’s How We Play the Game shows how a trailblazing business was created by giving back to the community and by taking principled, and sometimes controversial, stands—including against the type of weapons that are too often used in mass shootings and other tragedies. Ed Stack’s memoir tells the story of a complicated founder and an ambitious son—one who transformed a business by making it about more than business, conceiving it as a force for good in the communities it serves. In 1948, Ed Stack’s father started Dick’s Bait and Tackle in Binghamton, New York. Ed Stack bought the business from his father in 1984, and grew it into the largest sporting goods retailer in the country, with 800 locations and close to $9 billion in sales. The transformation Ed wrought wasn’t easy: economic headwinds nearly toppled the chain twice. But DICK’s support for embattled youth sports programs earned the stores surprising loyalty, and the company won even more attention when, in the wake of yet another school shooting—at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—it chose to become the first major retailer to pull all semi-automatic weapons from its shelves, raise the age of gun purchase to twenty-one, and, most strikingly, destroy the assault-style-type rifles then in its inventory. With vital lessons for anyone running a business and eye-opening reflections about what a company owes the people it serves, It’s How We Play the Game is “a compelling narrative…In a genre that can frequently be staid, Mr. Stack’s corporate biography is deeply personal…[Features] surprising openness [and] interesting and humorous anecdotes” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).


Table Talk

Table Talk

Author: Janet A. Flammang

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2016-06-15

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0252098552

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The civic virtues of a seat at the table Etiquette books insist that we never discuss politics during a meal. In Table Talk, Janet A. Flammang offers a polite rebuttal, presenting vivid firsthand accounts of people's lives at the table to show how mealtimes can teach us the conversational give-and-take foundational to democracy. Delving into the ground rules about listening, sharing, and respect that we obey when we break bread, Flammang shows how conversations and table activities represent occasions for developing our civil selves. If there are cultural differences over practices--who should speak, what behavior is acceptable, what topics are off limits, how to resolve conflict--our exposure to the making, enforcement, and breaking of these rules offers a daily dose of political awareness and growth. Political table talk provides a forum to practice the conversational skills upon which civil society depends. It also ignites the feelings of respect, trust, and empathy that undergird the idea of a common good that is fundamental to the democratic process.


The New Chicago Way

The New Chicago Way

Author: Edgar H Bachrach

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2019-01-16

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0809337525

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For all the wrong reasons, a national spotlight is shining on Chicago. The city has become known for its violence, police abuse, parent and teacher unrest, population decline, and mounting municipal and pension debt. The underlying problem, contend Ed Bachrach and Austin Berg, is that deliberative democracy is dead in the city. Chicago is home to the last strongman political system in urban America. The mayor holds all the power, and any perceived checks on mayoral control are often proven illusory. Rash decisions have resulted in poor outcomes. The outrageous consequences of unchecked power are evident in government failures in elections, schools, fiscal discipline, corruption, public support for private enterprise, policing, and more. Rather than simply lament the situation, criticize specific leaders, or justify an ideology, Bachrach and Berg compare the decisions about Chicago’s governance and finances with choices made in fourteen other large U.S. cities. The problems that seem unique to Chicago have been encountered elsewhere, and Chicagoans, the authors posit, can learn from the successful solutions other cities have embraced. Chicago government and its citizens must let go of the past to prepare for the future, argue Bachrach and Berg. A future filled with demographic, technological, and economic change requires a government capable of responding and adapting. Reforms can transform the city. The prescriptions for change provided in this book point toward a hopeful future: the New Chicago Way.


Upstate

Upstate

Author: Lisa Przystup

Publisher: The Monacelli Press, LLC

Published: 2020-10-27

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1580935362

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This inspiring collection of compelling and characterful interiors will have city and country dwellers alike dreaming of carving out a personal haven far beyond the big city. Through two hundred newly commissioned photographs and engaging profiles of twelve unique, personal, and creative interiors on both sides of the Hudson, Upstate features a variety of spaces--from tranquil minimalist retreats to exuberant small-town residences. Among them are a farmhouse of globetrotting food photographers, a lavender-hued Victorian brimming with eclectic curios, a striking cottage with modern furnishings and elegant Georgian bones, and the country-house-on-acid of an artist and art director, complete with giant mushroom side tables and permanently installed party streamers. Shared by these distinctive spaces is a common approach to decoration that centers on collections gradually accumulated, delights in the handmade, embraces the beauty in imperfection, and values comfort and character above all.