LIT 50
Who really books in Chicago
Nos. 21 - 30

21
Bill Zehme
"Funhouse" mirror
In the world of media hype, Bill Zehme’s timing couldn’t have been better—it was sweet synchronicity that his exhaustively researched bio on Delacorte Press, "Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman" (which The New York Times called "fascinating," adding "If you want the facts, this is the only [book] you’ll need"), was released around the same time as the critically-acclaimed (if relatively snubbed by moviegoers and the Oscars) Kaufman biopic "Man on the Moon." It didn’t hurt that an also timely Kaufman book by Bob Zmuda didn’t receive the same praise, meaning Zehme kept coming out on top in comparison reviews. But the big question is, will Zehme continue to capitalize on synchronicity and update his 1996 bio of Regis Philbin?

22
Michael Ross
Top of the world
No matter how much steam the Internet builds, those bumbling books just won’t go away. Realizing this, the folks at World Book have sustained a savvy, yet simple strategy that sounds like a Girl Scout motto: "Make new friends but keep the old/ One is silver and the other is gold." They boast a super-sticky Website (which recently got a nod from the Internet Cool Guide) and a CD-ROM version, but continue to focus primarily on the medium that brought them to the top. (It should be noted, however, that World Book is the only major encyclopedia company to have a 2000 version in all three mediums). Executive Vice President and Publisher Michael Ross reports that print is alive and well, and World Book has managed to remain profitable by neither steering away from, nor jumping head first into, the Internet game. Their Millennium Edition (complete with sunrise-spine design) is dominating at schools and libraries and—apropos to their general philosophy—has been even been deemed "the iMac of encyclopedias."

23
American Library Association
ALA mode
Under the towering masthead of the American Library Association lies some very formidable organizations in the bookworld, including Booklist, the ALA’s review journal with 30,000 institutional and personal subscribers; and the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), an astute and all-too necessary anti-censorship coalition. Think these ALA cats are a bunch of dopes with buns and bifocals who couldn’t sway a horse’s tail? Think again. Booklist reviews nearly 4,000 books for adults, more than 2,500 titles for children, more than 500 reference books and electronic reference tools, and 1,000 other audiovisual materials. Take heed of the New York Times description: "An acquisitions bible for public and school librarians nationwide." OIF sensitively and persuasively details the complex issue of censorship, in the library and on the Internet, while staunchly keeping their own stance crystal clear. With the number of televisions outweighing the number of library cards in the average American household, the ALA has their work cut out for them.

24
Kathy Welton
Shortcut showcaser
When your product integrates itself into pop culture slang, you know you’re a success; that’s certainly the case for IDG Publishing, whose Chicago-based arm published some fifty "… for Dummies" business books between October of 1999 and now. As the vice president and publisher of the Chicago branch, Kathy Welton is in charge of title acquisitions; while this time last year she was focused on all non-computer-related books, the Chicago office has since narrowed its focus to consumer business titles. A sure sign of a boom economy, last year’s bestsellers include "Franchising… ," "Fundraising… " and "Investing." With business titles now approaching ten million readers worldwide, IDG shows no signs of slowing down: recent acquisitions include Macmillan Publishing (Frommers, Betty Crocker) and—the original dummies’ cheat sheet—CliffsNotes.

25
Ann Landers
Advice column
It’s no wonder Chicago’s advice maven Ann Landers has recently been fawned over in a children’s book by Virginia Aronson, entitled "Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (Women of Achievement)": In a career spanning nearly half a century, Landers has managed to discharge succinct and compassionate advice with suprisingly little backlash. With her circa-"Bewitched" coif and "keep ’em on their toes" attitude, Landers has spared words of wisdom on everything from adult bedwetting to pet burials to the ever-present love and family problems. Those who frown on Landers as being merely for the plebeian might like to know that she’s racked up an astounding thirty-two honorary degrees from universities, and was the first journalist to receive the Albert Lasker Public Service Award for her work in pressuring Congress to approve millions of dollars for cancer research. And, of course, her famous column, published in some 1,200 newspapers, attracts roughly ninety million readers on any given day. Keep those letters coming, folks, she’s not done yet.

26
Milt J. Rosenberg
Got Milt?
Author/comedian Steve Allen once said that interviewers "should be forced to attend a class in that particular art, conducted by Milt Rosenberg." Apparently, publishing companies’ necks are terminally sore from nodding in agreement. The WGN-Radio institution is plugging along in his twenty-eighth year as host of "Extension 720," and showing no signs of slowing down—continuing to rap with the likes of Norman Mailer, Betty Friedan and The New York Times Magazine resident word snob William Safire. His NPR-with-commercials-style swagger covers topics ranging from financial investment to entertainment on a weeknightly basis, and makes Milt not only an intellectual island on the AM dial, but the man to talk to on Chicago’s airwaves.

27
Mary Dempsey
Mary queen of facts
Ever wonder if a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill someone? And, for that matter, why raindrops aren’t lethal? Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey knows the answers, and she’s ready and willing to provide them for inquiring minds on the weekly NPR news program "Rewind," having recently been appointed the show’s reference wizard. As a valued member of the Da Mare’s cabinet, Dempsey is a major player in Chicago; overseeing the nation’s largest municipal library, the largest library building campaign in the world, seventy-eight branches and a budget of $80 million, she’s a true power broker in the literary world at large.

28
Alex Ross
X-man
With the much-ballyhooed critical acclaim and financial success of recent projects "Batman: War on Crime" and "Uncle Sam," it’s no surprise to find out that Alex Ross is still in top demand. His true-to-life spin on classic Marvel and DC characters—for example, in "War on Crime," he offers a forty-something Batman, who, when shirtless, reveals a smattering of criss-cross scars on his back and torso—not only adds a human element to these mythic characters, but is considered to be among the finest artwork ever seen in the comic book world. A recent Sotheby’s auction saw some of his original art sell to the tune of $60,000, which the artist donated to UNICEF, and he plans to place more of his work on the block to benefit other charities. Currently, when he’s not busy playing the darling of the comics-trade rag Wizard, Ross is at work developing "Universe X" for Marvel, a sequel to his oeuvre "Earth X."

29
David Wilk
Wilk power
Sales keep rising at this 10-year-old distributor, which gets out the books of some eighty-five small publishers. Big winners over the past year include Robert Kiyosaki’s "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (plugged by Oprah, and recently snatched up by Warner Books), Nancy Davies’ "The Big Book of Pokemon," "’N Sync: No Strings Attached" and no less than four "grrreat" sex/romance/intimacy books by Laura Corn. A new in-house system now allows president Wilk and his LPC Group to print paperback books in less than five minutes (great for galleys and short-runs), and the company recently signed on to produce the hard-copy versions of some E-reads.

30
Lynda Barry
Barrying the competition
Eternal champion of the underdog, comic artist Lynda Barry (in the nationally syndicated "Ernie Pook’s Comeek" and more than two dozen collections and anthology contributions) celebrates geeks, freaks and all-around societal misfits in a way that shows them to be infinitely cool and funny, even as they deal with the kind of overhwhelming real-life struggles never imagined by the members of "Family Circus." Last September, Simon & Schuster published Barry’s darkly comic novel "Cruddy," the illustrated suicide note of a hapless 16-year-old who never had much of a chance at life, which Entertainment Weekly tagged as one of the top ten fiction works of last year. Coming any day now is a new collection of comics, "The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!" (Sasquatch Books), featuring Barry’s winning, Pippi-Longstocking-like heroine of the same name; in the meantime, fans can continue to sate their addiction with "One Hundred Demons," her bi-weekly, twenty-panel color strip on Salon.

SUMMER TRAVEL
Snappy suggestions for places you can drive in a day

VIDEO PARADISO
Scanning the racks of Chicago's international video emporiums

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