32
Linda and Curt Matthews
Under the guiding hand of Northwestern University lit professors Linda and Curt Matthews, Chicago Review Press bucked a bad year for publishing in 2001 by nailing down niche markets. By focusing on children's and academic titles, Chicago Review Press reported their best sales ever in the fall, with revenue reportedly climbing from $2 million in 1999 to $3.1 million in 2001.

33
Tenny Ahn
"There's a social responsibility to selling books," says Chicago Barnes & Noble district manager Tenny Ahn. The man certainly puts his money where his mouth is. Yes, Ahn is the grand poobah of ten Illinois B & N stores (including the three Chi-town locations), but he's also the company's rep for the Illinois Literacy Foundation, a not-for-profit group led by Secretary of State Jesse White. In the last three years, Ahn has helped snare more than a quarter-million dollars for the organization, which supports adult literacy programs and events. "None of the money goes to administrative overhead," Ahn adds with glee. "It all goes to books." Ahn is celebrating one more thing: in 2001 the Chicagoland Barnes & Nobles stores were more profitable than the B & N outfits in both New York and L.A.

34
Matthew Coyne
In 2001, Borders Books pissed off a whole lot of people when they made clear their intentions to metastasize into the Uptown neighborhood. Anti-yuppie residents cried foul, fearing a proliferation of SUVs, baseball caps, condos and Labrador retrievers. The owners of the Women & Children First bookstore raised a stink and so did the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois when the chain targeted the old Goldblatt's building as their desired location. But the thing is, people love Borders Books and Music. The Chicago operation, under the watch of district manager Matthew Coyne, is the company's second most profitable cluster of stores (after the San Francisco Bay Area). Last February, the company added the 27,000-square-foot behemoth in suburban Norridge and they've already staked out their next territory in Lincoln Village. Look out people! It's alive!

35
Bill Ott
Ott's baby Booklist continues in its tenth decade to be the go-to publication for librarians looking to stock the shelves. Booklist reviewers chime in on more than 4,000 adult titles a year and another 2,500 children's books (that's an average of nearly eighteen tomes reviewed a day, not to mention reference works, audiobooks and videos. And the industry takes notice--a recent Booklist article about Donald Hamilton and his Matt Helm thrillers generated enough buzz that three publishers expressed interest in putting out the last book in the series. For anyone looking for a good book (Oprah, jot this down!), the magazine's Website—http://www.ala.org/booklist/--runs a selection of current reviews.

36
Haki Madhubuti
Born "Donald Lee," Haki Madhubuti's chosen Swahili name reflects his commitment to the tenets of truth and justice, Haki meaning "just" and Madhubuti meaning "accurate" or "dependable." And for more than thirty-five years, this poet, editor, essayist, educator and founder and publisher of Third World Press (1967) has vigorously lent himself and his words to the healing and empowerment of black people. Currently professor of English and the founder and director-emeritus of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University, Madhubuti's most recent book, "Tough Notes: Letters to Young Black Men," is due out in paperback this month.

37
Joseph Hallinan
Pulitzer-Prize winning Wall Street Journal scribe Hallinan took an unusual road trip. He visited American prisons from Texas to Tamms, Illinois. The result, "Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation," comprehensively chronicles a prison system in dire need of repair. The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and L.A. Times all posted the title on their lists of 2001's best books.

38
Carol Anshaw
"Passing out flyers in a carrot costume" was a joke made years ago by author Carol Anshaw about potential jobs she could take while building her writing career. These days, that won't be necessary. She's out promoting her newest novel, "Lucky in the Corner" (Houghton Mifflin), a tumultuous story about a nuclear family gone awry. The author of "Aquamarine," a finalist for two Lammys, and winner of the Carl Sandburg and Society of Midland Authors award, Anshaw recently scored a hit at About Face Theatre with the stage adaptation of her novel "Seven Moves," the story of a therapist whose lesbian lover suddenly disappears.

39
Bill Young
When big-time authors come to town, it's Bill Young's job to get them around. But he's far more than simply an author escort. Just ask David Sedaris, Norman Mailer, Studs Terkel or about 4,000 other super-scribes. As the owner of Midwest Media, Young works in concert with publishers and booksellers to arrange readings, book signings and other literary events. No surprise, since he started his business in 1995, Young has made a lot of friends. When he turned 50 last year, hundreds of writers sent postcards with birthday well wishes: drawings, poems, jabs, jibes and words of affection. Of course, they had been tipped off. Author (and fellow Lit 50 cohort) Elizabeth Berg had informed them of the celebration. (The two fell in love while she was on tour. This dynamic literary duo now live together in Oak Park.)

40
Ana Castillo
Long considered one of the nation's leading Chicana voices, poet, novelist, short story writer, editor, essayist, artist and educator (whew! What can she not do?), Ana Castillo's recent works include the novel "Peel My Love Like an Onion," a poetry collection, "I Ask the Impossible," and the children's book "My Daughter, My Son, The Eagle, The Dove." Carl Sandburg Prize and American Book Award winner, Castillo is returning to classrooms across the country after a six-year hiatus and venturing into yet another medium this summer--what she calls a "(be)low budget" film based on her first novel, "The Mixquiahuala Letters."