2
Mary Dempsey
As the czarina of the Chicago Public Library, Commissioner Mary Dempsey lords over more than seventy-eight citywide locations. And since taking the job in 1994, she has redefined the public library system, turning the CPL into the best in the country. She's added new locations each year (forty-one since da Mare took office), amped up technology available to patrons, and developed scores of programs like the recent "Get Wild About Reading" campaign, which prompts parents to read to their diaper-aged kids. But it was last year's "One Book, One Chicago" that caused the nation to take notice. Taking a cue from Seattle, Dempsey formed a committee of a dozen librarians and teachers to choose the city read. The pick? "To Kill a Mockingbird." Soon after, riders on the el were carrying the Harper Lee classic, people were reading it in parks, and they were talking about it in coffee shops. Dempsey and Co. turned the program into a twice-yearly event, giving the nod this spring to "Night," by Elie Wiesel. How long will it be before Mary Dempsey runs for higher office? We only have one thing to say: Hillary who?

3
Roger Ebert
Every now and then we get a reminder that the über film critic's TV tip-man persona hides a serious, elegant writer with a host of insights on modern film. Ebert's newest hardcover, "The Great Movies" (Broadway Books, March 2002), offers mini essays, written for the Sun-Times since 1997 and newly updated, on 100 great films. So though he's known for the tube, it's in books that Ebert seems to find a freedom of expression that allows his eloquence to shine through uninterrupted (probably why all his stuff sells steadily). Of course, sometimes you just want to know what to rent and for that, the yearly standard, "Ebert's Little Movie Yearbook 2002" (Andrews McMeel), is always available.

4
Oprah Winfrey
Read any good books lately? Oprah's answer is no. In April, Oprah shocked the book world when she formally disbanded her hugely influential book club. After forty-eight picks, the mighty O closed the covers on her club, which some book industry experts estimate influenced the sale of more than 12 million books. She twisted the knife in the back of once-fawning booksellers and authors, claiming it was "harder and harder" to find books interesting enough to bring to her audience. The country's newspapers spilled novels' worth of ink spouting righteous indignation at Oprah's seemingly traitorous comment, and media outlets rushed to fill the void, with everyone from Regis's Kelly Ripa to the Today Show to USA Today to Jerry Springer starting book clubs. OK, we're kidding about Jerry. But don't count Oprah out, either. She still plans to do occasional shows about books, and when she does, the shelves will tremble again.

5
Scott Turow
The lawyer and author of the best-selling "Presumed Innocent" and, most recently, 1999's "Personal Injuries," has been making news lately as an outspoken critic of the death penalty in Illinois. So it's no surprise that there's a huge buzz about "Reversible Errors," Turow's upcoming novel about a possibly innocent man on the eve of his execution for murder. The novel, due in November, is told from the viewpoints of the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, the detective, and the judge who sentenced the man to death. It's sure to put Turow back in the public spotlight on death-penalty issues at a time when Illinois has imposed a moratorium on capital punishment precisely because of cases like the one Turow fictionalizes. And Turow also earned style points during BookExpo America when he showed up at an East Village haunt to sing lead vocals on Del Shannon's song "Runaway" for the Rock Bottom Remainders, a literary gag band that includes Stephen King, Amy Tan and Dave Barry.

6
Elizabeth Taylor
The Chicago Tribune's Elizabeth Taylor isn't one to hog the limelight ("I hate self-promotion," she says) but the longtime books editor and author ("American Pharaoh") loves to shine it on other people. In addition to the coveted Nelson Algren award, Taylor, who also heads up the Trib's Sunday Magazine, not to mention the National Books Critics Circle, is lobbying to dish out more literary awards. An award will help a struggling scribe, sure, but Taylor figures it can only raise visibility for the paper, which has one of the five daily newspaper stand-alone books sections left duking it out in the country. In her own news, the paperback of "American Pharaoh" has been selling briskly, but you may catch it on the big screen sometime soon—movie rights have been sold. It's about time.

7
Andrew Greeley
When it all goes down, the only things left will be cockroaches and Andrew Greeley. Parlaying a racy story of sex and religion ("The Cardinal Sins") into a twenty-year career as a best-selling author, Greeley (who doubles as a priest and sociologist) has become his own publishing powerhouse. An author who keeps going and going and going, Greeley has written more than fifty novels, upwards of thirty of which have been bestsellers, including 2001's "Irish Love." But he's also kept up on hot-button issues like the current Catholic Church sex scandal—the 2000 edition of journalist Jason Berry's "Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children," with a new forward by Greeley, has sold out in recent months. At 74, Greeley still cranks out numerous columns for the Sun-Times and Daily Southtown, as well as two hard-covers a year—2002 has already seen "Irish Stew" (Forge, March) and the "The Bishop in the West Wing" (Forge) is due in July.

8
Elizabeth Berg
The recognition and exposure given by an Oprah Book Club selection has the potential to send an author spiraling into a sweet-love hangover period from which recovery could be impossible. (Will Jonathan Franzen ever write again? Who knows.) But not so for best-selling author Berg. She wasted no time following up 2000's insanely popular O-fingered "Open House" with last year's "Never Change," which was well received by fans and critics. Clearly not one to remain stagnant, the Oak Park-by-way-of-Massachusetts author has already added another nugget to her bibliography, "Ordinary Life," earlier this year. Not exactly a flash in the pan.

9
Alex Ross
It was another banner year for Wilmette resident Alex Ross. His fourth DC Comics oversized book, "Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth," was a monster hit with both fans and critics. Ross also habitually auctions off parts of his original DC series artwork and donates the proceedings to charity; most recently, cash earned went to the Twin Towers fund. His philanthropy didn't go unnoticed. In January, Chicago magazine named Ross one of its "Chicagoans of the Year." His various freelance assignments also bolstered his clout--he painted the powerful promotional poster for the 2002 Oscars and the recent Spider-Man cover of TV Guide. It has always been Alex Ross's dream to bring comic books into the mainstream and it looks like he's doing a good job of it.

10
Sara Paretsky
After a bit of a dry spell, Chicago's resident mystery-series guru is finally back. In September 2001, she produced the best-selling "Total Recall," the tenth in the V.I. Warshawski series, and seemed to kick back into high gear. This year marks V.I.'s 20th anniversary (her first adventure, "Indemnity Only," was published in 1982); she also received the Crime Writers' Association 2002 Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. In April Paretsky released the specially published collection, "V.I. Times Two," two short stories originally published in separate magazines, available at her "favorite" local bookstore, Women & Children First. And she's already said we won't have to wait as long for the next V.I. adventure, due in fall 2003.