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Chicago Tribune’s Mary Schmich Keynotes 26th
Annual Kogan Media Awards
By Linda Heacox
CBA Public Affairs Director
P
ulitizer Prize winning columnist
Mary Schmich will keynote the
26
th
annual Herman Kogan Media
Awards luncheon on Wednesday, May 6,
at Maggiano’s restaurant, 516 N. Clark
Street, Chicago.
Dennis Culloton, Chair of the Kogan
Awards Committee of the Chicago Bar
Association (CBA), said, “For more than
a quarter century, the CBA has been hon-
oring the best Chicago journalism has to
offer. We are proud to support
journalists who vigorously
cover lawyers, police, the
courts and our justice system.
We depend upon their hard-
hitting coverage of critical
public affairs issues.”
“We are also happy to
support journalism students
through the Kogan Awards
scholarships. The money we
provide to students study-
ing journalism or related
subjects helps assure another
generation of great reporters,”
he said.
About the Keynote Speaker
Mary Theresa Schmich was
born in Savannah, Ga., the
oldest of eight children, and
spent her childhood in Geor-
gia. She attended high school
in Phoenix then earned a
B.A. at Pomona College in
Claremont, Calif.
After working in college admissions for
three years and spending a year and a half
in France, she attended journalism school
at Stanford. She has worked as a reporter
at the
PeninsulaTimes Tribune
in Palo Alto,
Calif., at the
Orlando Sentinel
and, since
1985, at the
ChicagoTribune
. She spent five
years as a
Tribune
national correspondent
based in Atlanta. She has written a column
for the
Chicago Tribune
since 1992, except
for the year she spent at Harvard on a
Nieman fellowship for journalists.
She wrote the “Brenda Starr” comic strip
for 25 years, until 2010. She plays piano
and mandolin and teaches yoga. She and
Eric Zorn host the annual “Songs of Good
Cheer” singalong at the Old Town School
of Folk Music. She won the 2012 Pulitzer
Prize for “Commentary.”
About the Herman Kogan Media Awards
The Kogan awards are presented to journal-
ists who cover topics related to the law, the
courts, or the administration of justice. The
top award in each category carries a $1000
prize in the form of a scholarship presented
to the journalism or English program at the
college or university of the winner’s choice.
The Kogan Award Competition, estab-
lished in 1989, celebrates the career of
Herman Kogan, whose career spanned
more than 50 years and included experi-
ence as a reporter, feature and editorial
writer, editor, author, historian, biographer,
literary critic, radio host and television
executive.
Ti cket s to the Kogan Award
Luncheon are $60. To reserve your
space, call 312/554-2013 or e-mail
khighley@chicagobar.org. Awards
will be presented to journalists in
the categories of print, broadcast
and online reporting.
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015