Society of Midland Authors
www.midlandauthors.com
Founded in 1915 by Vachel Lindsay, Hamlin Garland, Hobart Chatfield-Chatfield Taylor and the cream of Chicago's World War I literary renaissance, the SMA is a fraternal organization of published authors, poets and playwrights. SMS sponsors a literary awards banquet every May, a monthly speaker programs beginning in October at the Cliff Dweller's Club, 200 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, informal gatherings at the Red Lion Pub opposite the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue, and an author's table at the annual Printer's Row Book Fair, an event initiated by Rich during his term as president from 1999-2001.

The Illinois State Library
Illinois Authors Page
The library does much to promote the state's local authors, including sponsorship of an annual dinner and autumn book fair at the State Capitol, pulling together the reading public with writers from every corner of the state. Richard is included in the library's biographical listings¯immediately following Abraham Lincoln.

LitLine: The Unit For Contemporary Literature
www.litline.org
Sub-directory:
Illinois Writer's Directory (IWD) - Information found here can be used to invite participating authors to readings, workshops, or to learn more about the authors living within the state. Rich's personal link can be accessed at www.litline.org/iwd/html/lindbergr.html

The Authors Den
www.authorsden.com
An alpha listing of authors from around the country, representing every genre of writing.

Chicago Crime Commission
www.chicagocrimecommission.org
The CCC has been at the leading edge in the fight against organized crime since 1919. It is one of only sixteen citizen's crime commissions in the U.S. Rich was elected to membership in 1994, and has served on the Organized Crime Committee and Courts Committee. He helped write the 1997 white paper "The New Faces of Organized Crime."

The Illinois Academy of Criminology
http://www.illacad.org/
The Illinois Academy of Criminology is a not-for-profit professional society dedicated to the study of criminology and criminal justice; promoting scientific inquiry research and publication; and presenting the results of relevant studies and research by means of lectures, addresses and publications. Rich was appointed First Vice President for 2003-2004.

The Chicago Historical Society
www.chicagohs.org
On lazy Saturday afternoons, the CHS research library is a perfect refuge for scholars and devotees of Chicago history. Since the third floor re-modeling was completed a few years ago, the library has become a beehive of activity and sometimes you have to take a number and wait in the lobby. Infuriating, when you are conducting book research, but well worth the wait.

Milt Rosenberg, "Extension 720" Audio Archives
www.wgnradio.com/shows/ex720/links.htm
Since 1972, Dr. Rosenberg has hosted Chicago's premier talk show forum offering the educated listener sanity, probity, and thought-provoking interviews with the movers and shakers of the modern world in a chaotic radio wasteland. The subject matter is broad and diverse; spanning education to politics; music and the arts, sports, history, science, intellectual thought, and the full gamut of human knowledge. Extension 720 airs each night on WGN Radio, AM-720, from 9:00-11:00 p.m. CST.

Jay Bonansinga's Web Site
www.jaybonansinga.com
Discover a great Chicago-based author - a prolific author I might add - who has published seven hard-hitting suspense novels, and an acclaimed non-fiction account of the sinking of the lake steamer "Eastland" in 1915. Published in 2004, "The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy" is a haunting remembrance of a city tragedy carved in the memory of several generations of Chicagoans. My grandfather bore witness to the capsizing from the Clark Street bridge while making his appointed rounds of downtown Chicago with his dray, loaded with empty chicken crates. He hurled these boxes into the murky, polluted Chicago River. Jay's seminal work tells the human side of the story.

Northeastern Illinois University
www.neiu.edu
The commuter school campus has significantly expanded since the fall of 1971 when Rich enrolled as a freshman. However the university still struggles to obtain endowments to fund academic programs and special events. To correct shortfalls, Dr. Bernard Brommel, a member of the Society of Midland Authors, and a friend and mentor of Richard since undergraduate days, started the "1867 Founder's Society" to encourage estate donations. The Society was launched on May 14, 2001 with a dinner in the Golden Eagles Room.

William Howard Taft High School Alumni Association
www.taftalumni.org
This is one of the few remaining (active) high school alumni associations in the Chicagoland area. Rich graduated from Taft in 1971 and was voted into the Hall of Fame in May 2000.


Steve Monroe's Web Site
www.steve-monroe.net
Get to know one of Chicago's great, up-and-coming authors. Meet Steve Monroe, the real-estate novelist (borrowing an apt description from the lyrics of an old Harry Chapin ballad) and the likely heir-apparent to Nelson Algren. (Well, maybe. Algren and Steve both wrote compelling prose about the fight game.) Steve is a city raconteur, my friend, and a "stand-up" colleague at Grubb & Ellis, not to mention being a terrific writer and the author of '57 Chicago and '46 Chicago, gritty noir novels set against the backdrop of "smokestack" Chicago.


Save the Uptown Theatre!
www.uptowntheatrechicago.com
Carol Carlson and her dedicated staff at the Uptown Theatre and Center for Arts have been fighting a vigorous and heart-felt battle to raise the working capital necessary to buy the Uptown Theatre on Broadway for several years now. The majestic old movie palace is in serious disrepair and unless this group succeeds in its mission to restore the luster, grandeur, and traditions through the largesse of private donors and civic philanthropists, the future of the building will remain in doubt. We are in extra innings now, so please, get in touch with the Uptown Theatre project at 773-275-3999.

For White Sox Fans
www.tickets-mlb-baseball.com/chicago_white_sox.htm
Online tickets, schedule, team roster, stadium seating chart, and team history.