A North Side post office, of all places, may become something of a cultural hub.
Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, introduced a bill last week to rename the Lakeview Post Office, at 1343 West Irving Park Road, after the singer-songwriter Steve Goodman.
Mr. Goodman, who was 36 when he died of leukemia in 1984, is perhaps best known in Chicago for his Wrigley Field victory anthem “Go, Cubs, Go.” That’s a disservice, Mr. Quigley says, to Mr. Goodman, who wrote “City of New Orleans” and other trenchant folk songs.
The post office is already home to a striking, nearly 25-foot-long mural that traces the history of Chicago from Fort Dearborn to the stockyards. The mural, “Chicago: Epoch of a Great City,” was painted by Henry Sternberg in 1938.
“So if Steve Goodman wants to come into this, why not?” said Dr. David Baldwin, who led the campaign to restore the mural. “He’s as Chicago as the stockyards.”
Great!!
I loved Steve Goodman, he’s as Chicago as it gets (remember his nickname Chicago Shorty)
I saw him and John Prine and Bonnie Koloc at Taste of Chicago when it was at Soldier Field, one very, very hot evening in the 80″s, I believe. It was a remarkable show.
All for the idea to include, if not feature Steve.
Tom Brann