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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has lost one of its most
3 valued Citizens, Mike Royko of Chicago, Illinois, who passed
4 away on Tuesday April 29, 1997; and
5 WHEREAS, Mike Royko is well known within the State as
6 well as around the world as a syndicated columnist from
7 Chicago, Illinois; and
8 WHEREAS, Mike Royko was born September 19, 1932; his
9 father was Ukrainian and his mother was Polish; together they
10 raised their children in a flat above the family tavern, the
11 Blue Sky Lounge; and
12 WHEREAS, Mike Royko spent his early life tending bar in
13 his father's tavern; he skipped college and joined the United
14 States Air Force, where he trained as a radio operator; Mike
15 Royko went on to serve in the Korean War, stationed near
16 Seoul; upon his return to the United States, he was stationed
17 at O'Hare Field near Chicago; to avoid becoming a military
18 policeman, he applied for and received a position on the base
19 newspaper; and
20 WHEREAS, Mike Royko was married to his childhood
21 sweetheart, Carol Duckman, in 1954; together they had two
22 sons, David and Robert; and
23 WHEREAS, Mike Royko went to work for the Lincoln-Belmont
24 Booster; he then moved on to the City News Bureau; he was
25 offered a position with the Daily News, but admitted that was
26 not experienced enough to hold such a position; and
27 WHEREAS, In 1959, Mike Royko was hired as a reporter for
28 the Daily News, where he worked the night shift; Mike sold
29 tombstones via the telephone and home visits to supplement
30 his early income at the newspaper; switching to the day
31 shift, Mike was offered a chance to write a column on the
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1 Cook County Building; in 1964, after talking with his editor
2 about writing a column with a "Chicago flavor", Mike Royko
3 began writing his daily column; and
4 WHEREAS, Mike Royko developed a character in his column
5 that would come to be known as his alter-ego, Slats Grobnik;
6 Slats was the Chicago everyman, who Royko would hold
7 discussions with on topics ranging from the Chicago Cubs to
8 the city's ever changing local government; and
9 WHEREAS, The Democratic Convention was held in Chicago in
10 1968, and Mike Royko won the Broun Award for his coverage of
11 the police force and their treatment of the demonstrators and
12 reporters; and
13 WHEREAS, In 1971 Mike Royko wrote the book "Boss: Richard
14 J. Daley of Chicago", a book about Chicago's colorful leader;
15 Royko later stated that he liked Daley for his stand on
16 family values and public works; and
17 WHEREAS, In 1972, Mike Royko was awarded the Pultizer
18 Prize for Journalism: Criticism and Commentary; afterwards he
19 considered moving his family and column to Washington, D.C.,
20 but was talked out of it by his wife, children, and himself;
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Mike Royko was Chicago; he created the
23 unofficial motto for Chicago "Ubi Est Mea-Where's Mine?"; he
24 was at home in the Billy Goat Tavern; the Billy Goat Tavern
25 that Mike frequented was immortalized on the early episodes
26 of Saturday Night Live, where Chicago native John Belushi
27 would shout out the familiar "Cheezbooger, Cheezbooger", in
28 the tradition of the Billy Goat's cook; Royko later suggested
29 that Belushi got his inspiration for the skit from Royko's
30 column, not from actual visits to the Billy Goat; and
31 WHEREAS, In 1978, Mike's beloved Daily News ceased
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1 operations, and Royko and his column moved to the Chicago
2 Sun-Times; in the following year, Mike's wife Carol passed
3 away after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage; Mike's
4 column was suspended for several weeks, except for one brief
5 column that read "We met when she was 6 and I was 9. Same
6 neighborhood street. Same grammar school. So if you ever
7 have a 9-year old son who says he is in love, don't laugh at
8 him. It can happen."; and
9 WHEREAS, Mike Royko left the Chicago Sun-Times after its
10 buyout by Rupert Murdoch in 1984; he joined the Chicago
11 Tribune that same year; in 1986 he married Judy Arndt, chief
12 of the Sun-Times public service bureau, whom Royko referred
13 to in his column as "The Blonde."; together they had recently
14 purchased a condominium in Florida where they could get away
15 to play tennis or fish; and
16 WHEREAS, Together, Mike and Judy had two children, Sam
17 and Kate; Mike Royko is also survived by his two sons Robert
18 and David; his brother Robert; his two sisters Eleanor Cronin
19 and Dorothy Zetlmeier; and five grandchildren; therefore, be
20 it
21 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
23 mourn, along with his family, friends, readers, Slats
24 Grobnik, and the men and women of Chicago, the death of Mike
25 Royko; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
27 presented to the family of Mike Royko of Chicago, Illinois.