Mike Lubow

Seventy-Seven Columns Mike Lubow

Not long ago, Mike Lubow landed a spot as a weekly columnist for a group of newspapers reaching eleven communities along Chicago's North Shore. He dubbed his columns "North Shorts." For Lubow (a former columnist for the Chicago Tribune), these became a soapbox for quirky observations. He figured few people would notice. But neighbors, old acquaintances and even strangers commented about the columns. Big city dailies were famously losing ground, yet handy community papers seemed to maintain and amuse loyal readers. After seventy-seven "North Shorts," Lubow took a break. Meanwhile, he felt the need to preserve what had been published. While newspapers are discarded daily and online writing disappears with a click, a book can sit on a shelf patiently retaining the moments that fill its pages. Seventy-Seven Columns may be flipped through like a deck of cards. Stop anywhere; each column stands alone. It may be about the secret of longevity, the effect of a sneeze on fast food, musical memories, time travel forward and backward, Winston Churchill, Willie Nelson, the need for airline antibiotics, or anything else from the grab bag of Lubow's musings. The columns appear as written. And they share one simple virtue. They're short.