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BiographyRichard C. Lindberg, A Chicago Writer Rich has been researching and uncovering forgotten Chicago history for over 30 years. He has been featured on History's Mysteries, Cities of the Underworld, Justice Files, Mobsters, American Justice, Masterminds, and many television and radio programs of local and national origin including WBEZ, the local NPR affiliate in Chicago; In Search of History; plus Lost Worlds; two documentaries about Chicago gangland for the Travel Channel; a documentary about Chicago gambling boss Mike McDonald for Irish public television; two episodes of Evidence on Discovery plus numerous appearances on Milt Rosenberg's thought-provoking Extension 720 program, heard nightly on WGN Radio. Rich broke into print in 1977, beginning as a free-lance reporter
for the Lerner Community Newspapers of Chicago, a talent
incubator for many local journalists. He spent his nights covering
sports, community events, fraternal associations, and political
gatherings across the greater Northwest Side of Chicago. Writing About Chicago – "The Gambler King of Clark Street" Wins the Society of Midland Authors 2009-2010 Biography Award and an Award of excellence from the Illinois state historical society
Rich's 2009 biography of Michael C. McDonald, Chicago's wily 19th Century political boss, roué, and roguish gambler, inspired The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of the Chicago's Democratic Machine, was named the winner of the 2009-2010 Biography Prize from the Society of Midland Authors (www.midlandauthors.com). Two weeks earlier, at a special luncheon held at the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield on April 24, 2010, Rich’s book - praised for its originality and scholarship - won a Certificate of Excellence from the Illinois State Historical Society. The McDonald story, a first-ever biography about this enigmatic but mostly forgotten gambler who built the foundation of the city's enduring, and eternally corrupt Democratic Machine still in power after 120 years today. With swagger and bravado, "King" Mike elected mayors, consulted with presidents, amassed a personal fortune and suffered mightily at the hands of two feckless wives who "done 'em wrong." With swagger and bravado, "King" Mike elected mayors, consulted with presidents, amassed a personal fortune and suffered mightily at the hands of two feckless wives who "done 'em wrong." His tragic personal life is interwoven with the intriguing story of the rise of organized crime in the Windy City; formulated by McDonald and his syndicate of gamblers, sharpers, bondsmen, sluggers and crooked politicians possessing colorful and oblique nicknames, a zest for the high life, and a gift for larceny on a grand scale.
Return to the Scene of the Crime: a Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago and the 2001 companion volume Return Again to the Scene of the Crime: a Guide to Even More Infamous Places in Chicago were both published by Cumberland House and were local best-sellers following their original publication dates. The books have widespread appeal and they led to numerous invitations to speak to membership associations, academic symposiums, professional organizations, senior citizen groups and public libraries across the Northeast Illinois region. Coming Next... Rich’s next book, Heartland Serial Killers: Belle Gunness, Johann Hoch and Murder for Profit in Gaslight Era America, profiling Gunness and Hoch, two early 20th Century serial killers who placed advertisements in the lonely hearts columns of ethnic newspapers advertising for desperately lonely men and women to marry…swindle…and ultimately murder, will be published by Northern Illinois University Press in DeKalb, IL, in March of 2011. Belle Gunness carried out her bloody work in a rural farm house outside of LaPorte, Indiana from 1900-1908. Hoch, the lesser known fiend, was an apprentice to Dr. H.H. Holmes, the "master of murder castle" (more famously known as the "Devil in the White City") in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair. Hoch struck off on his own after his mentor, H.H. Holmes, was captured and hanged. Hoch, this squat, balding killer married 35 women in his time – about ten of them ended up in graves once their dowry and insurance policies were safely in his hand. Hoch and Gunness were contemporaries but they did not work together, nor did they know each, but if they had, one would have cancelled out the other. Rich’s memoir of growing up, The Whiskey Breakfast: My Swedish Family, My American Life, has been completed and is expected to be published in fall of 2011 by the University of Minnesota Press. The third edition of Total White Sox – Rich’s definitive 675-page history of the South Side team will also be coming out in the spring of 2011 with complete updates through the 2010 season and many new photos and entries. Chicago-based Triumph Books is the publisher. The White Sox in Chapter and Verse…
Rich knows White Sox baseball. He grew up listening to the late-night broadcasts of Sox baseball by Bob Elson and Red Rush on WCFL and WMAQ Radio, and suffered the anguish of two blown pennants in 1964 and 1967. In the late 1970s Rich began filtering historical statistics and tidbits of information to Don Unferth, the team's director of media relations, based on his exhaustive exploration into Sox history. Gradually a role evolved for Rich as their "White Sox Team Historian"
supplying historical data—lost for many decades—articles for
team publications and various other projects. In 1988, Rich was
on location in Indianapolis for the shooting of Eight Men Out.
For months he had provided historical interpretation and tidbits
of information to actors John Cusack, Gordon Clapp and D.B. Sweeney
while assisting with the technical aspects to the cinematic re-telling
of the "Black Sox Scandal." He even appeared as an on-camera extra
in the movie—a Chicago police officer, appropriately.
In May 2008, the White Sox unveiled their "Legacy Plaza" - a historic commemoration of the first 109 years of team history outside of Gate 4 at the new U.S. Cellular Field. Rich provided the White Sox Marketing Department with a "timeline" of 200 of the most historic and significant events in team history that was to form the baseline of 200 bricks, each with a famous moment inscribed and laid out in the shape of a baseball diamond. In all, Rich has written five detailed White Sox histories including the 600-page Total White Sox, with a new update coming in 2011.
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