It was at Bowen that the teachers made me realize I had talent to match my desire when it came to newspapers. (Thank you, Mr. Sorkin, Ms. Phyllis Schwartz, Mrs. Ford and too many more to mention.) I was the editor of the school paper, the Bowen Arrow, and took Ms. Schwartz’s journalism class.

A graduate of Bowen, Gary Goodfriend, came back and talked to us junior year. He said the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern was the best place to go if you wanted to work on newspapers. Knowing no one in newspapers and having no family who graduated from college, I decided to follow his advice (I knew his brother Neal, so I figured he was okay).

I applied only there, even though my counselor was sure I wouldn’t get in so she made me agree to apply to U of I as well. (I said I would, but didn’t. What a stupid gamble.)

Anyway, I got into Medill and now, almost 37 (!!!) years since I graduated from Bowen in 1972, I have had a long and successful career in newspapers. Today I write a social issues column on the editorial page and am the deputy features editor at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Dr. Hare, my chemistry teacher, worked so hard with me, but I really wasn’t getting it. She tried and tried and I was just average in that class. I frustrated her, I know. Years later, when I had to teach myself to bake and cook, I understood it perfectly because then, finally, the lessons of chemistry kicked in. I never took one cooking class but became an excellent cook and baker, which helped me land a job at the paper, Food editor, a position I held for 10 years.