Click Here for details.
Save Save Save Save
Published in the Chicago Tribune on August 24, 2025
By Michael Phillips
Well. Goodbye for now.
The Tribune has eliminated the position of film critic, as part of a newsroom reorganization. This leaves me with two options: stick around for reassignment or take a buyout. I'm voting buyout. I'm opting in for opting out.
After six newspapers in Minneapolis; Dallas; San Diego; St. Paul, Minneapolis; Los Angeles and Chicago, and 41 fulltime years in this beautiful, vanishing subset of journalism, it feels right. Forty-one years, plus six years of freelancing my way through college. Call it 47. Fortyseven years of writing, editing, gobbling research like the grad student I never was; 47 years of making my peace at the keyboard (or waging another microwar against cliches) when faced with one more deadline. Nearly a half-century of putting work ahead of everything else, too often at everything else's expense.
So now, for me, it's time for the shock of the new.
The new to be named later.
Through fat and lean and thick and thin and, to quote Mel Brooks, through thin, the Tribune has been good to me. They took a chance on me back in 2002 and I'm grateful. The place has brought me so much to love in this city. Plus the paper underwrote 10 trips to the Cannes Film Festival, with my name on the festival badge, once upon a time.
I arrived from the Los Angeles Times as the Tribune's new theater critic. This was the result of a lengthy interview process for the finalists for the post vacated by the irreplaceable Richard Christiansen. Bizarrely, all the other finalists turned the job down, with regrets.
Perhaps none of us could get our heads around the workload established so selflessly by Christiansen, and in my case I wanted enough life in my life to be there for my son, then one year old.
And then Tribune editors did something sort of amazing. They agreed to fill the theater critic position with two, not one: me and Chris Jones, the latter now the paper's editorial page editor as well as Tribune and New York Daily News theater critic. In an overwhelmingly white male newsroom, there we were, two more white males.
I think about that a lot.
There's an Arthur Miller quote that gets a lot of reuse here at the Tribune. It's etched into a wall inside our former tower's lobby: "A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself." Right now, any newspaper with an interest in staying urgent and relevant and alert is getting an earful of a fractious nation. Making sense of these nerve-wracking times, and everything filmmakers, artists, writers, creators create out of the din, amounts to more than a routine profession. Or a bottom line.
I got paid for my first opinion at 17, which was ridiculous but educational. At my college paper, the Minnesota Daily, I knew I wasn't writing like myself yet. I wrote about movies, plays, performers and artists like a combination of critics I admired. Young actors often do the same; they learn by doing, and by borrowing, and in time by letting the false front fall away.
Every text, email, letter and phone call the Tribune readers have sent my way, be it out of agreement, frustration or just plain kindness - nothing I ever wrote meant as much as what you sent, and I mean it.
The good fortune so many of us fell into back then, editing or generating arts coverage, is a dream now, a dream of a less precarious era of journalism. My first fulltime job was arts editor of the Twin Cities weekly City Pages. What was I doing? I didn't know what I was doing. I just did as much of everything as I could see and hear and watch. In the Twin Cities in the '80s, you could catch Ella Fitzgerald one night and The Replacements the next. You could marvel at some of the riskiest, most experimental regional theater in American history, right there on stage at the Guthrie Theater, under the artistic directorship of Liviu Ciulei and Garland Wright.
You could have your atoms rearranged by Abel Gance's silent epic "Napoleon" at the Walker Art Center. All in the name of work, and learning, and joy.
My Tribune gigs - four years on theater, 20 on movies - were the best, toughest, most rewarding years of my professional life. Getting to know Roger and Chaz Ebert led to me filling in for Roger, when he took ill, and then co-hosting "At the Movies" opposite Richard Roeper and then A.O. Scott. (The white man parade never really ended.)
I met Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies when he came to town with Jane Powell for a screening of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," and then a while later, there I was, somehow, introducing a hundred or so films on TCM. I used to say it as a joke, though now it's truer than I realized: TCM may be the one entity in American culture holding this damn country together.
From here, I'll continue to show up on the long-running "Filmspotting" podcast, broadcast on WBEZ-FM, whenever the hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen see fit. Over on Classical WFMT, I'll continue my weekly segments for the film music program "Soundtrack," which I adore. Next month I plan to begin my 11th year as advisor and mentor of the University of Illinois College of Media Roger Ebert Fellowship, which is the grad school I never knew but now I know. It has the added benefit of keeping Roger's spirit in my heart and in my work as an editor and a colleague.
If my luck holds out, the unknown unknowns ahead include new colleagues I value as much as I do my fellow Tribune screens chronicler Nina Metz and my editor Doug George. They care, and they're pros, at a time when devaluing expertise is national political policy.
It is of course bittersweet, at least for me, to see the two remaining Chicago daily newspaper film critic positions go away like that. Yet Chicago's film exhibition, curation, production and non-daily coverage, of every sort, remains a beacon for much of the rest of the country. And more importantly, for Chicago.
So. Goodbye for now, as the Sondheim song from the film "Reds" put it. Thank you for reading. Keep seeking out the critical voices that make your own perceptions a little sharper, your interest in something you've seen - and something you may see tomorrow night - a little keener. For now, I'll enjoy this peculiar new feeling, captured best by another song lyric, this one from Irving Berlin's "No Strings": Like an unwritten melody, I'm free -That's me.
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
View all Illinois public notices 24 hours a day - publicnoticeillinois.com
Member Log-In + Contact Us + Events + PressLines + Job Bank + Advertising Toolbox + Upload Pages
+Regular Member Newspapers
Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 11, 2025 Contact Information: Cadeala Troublefield, project manager Griffin & Strong Ph: (678) 364-2962 ext. 111 cadeala@gspclaw.com Courtney Clark, deputy project manager Griffin & Strong Ph: (404) 348-0690 ext. 113 courtney@gspclaw.com
VIRTUAL INFORMATIONAL MEETING DETAILS DATE(TENTATIVE): Wednesday, November 19, 2025 6 PM CST/7 PM EST Interested Participants Can Register Here: https://gspclaw.zoom.us/meeting/register/ytfUEAagQzqnrQE8eO8mSQ#/registration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2025 Contact Information: Kara Kienzler, associate executive director - communications Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Ph: (217) 528-9688
SPRINGFIELD — November 15 of each year is designated as School Board Members Day. The day of recognition is an occasion to build community awareness about the important role school board members play in a representative democracy by providing a local voice for community education decisions. In 2007, the Illinois House of Representatives declared November 15 as School Board Members Day in the State of Illinois. The resolution states the annual recognition is “a way to honor those citizens who devote so much of their time and energy for the education of our children.” “School board members serve as our local, volunteer education advocates striving for quality learning opportunities for every student. They take on this immense responsibility not for a paycheck, but because they are committed to their communities and the belief that every child deserves a quality education,” said IASB Executive Director Kimberly A. Small, J.D. “Our school board members wear many hats; beyond their educational leadership, they are policy-makers, contract negotiators, and budgeteers. They are also our neighbors, our friends, and our schools’ biggest fans. On November 15 –– School Board Members Day — it is our chance to say, ‘Thank You.’” IASB encourages school districts, communities, businesses, and others to thank local school board members and recognize them for their dedication to providing successful education opportunities for all students. Resources and images to recognize school board members on November 15 are available at www.iasb.com/thankaboardmember.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2025 Media Contact Illinois Principals Association Alison Maley, government and public relations director PH: 217-299-3122 alison@ilprincipals.org
SPRINGFIELD – In a direct response to the growing school leadership shortage across Illinois, the Illinois Principals Association, through its Ed Leaders Network (ELN), has teamed up with Aurora University to launch an exciting and streamlined Alternative Principal Endorsement Program. This endorsement pathway enables educators who already have five years of experience and hold a master’s degree in education to earn their Principal Endorsement in just one year – without completing an additional graduate degree. Approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and aligned with National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards, the program blends an immersive one-year internship with micro‑credentials tailored to school leadership practice. Eligible educators can earn licensure‑approved endorsement within one calendar year. This program is significantly less expensive than a full master’s degree and delivered on a fully remote platform. Participants in the program have appreciated the flexibility and experience the program provides as they enter or continue their school leadership journey. “Having already completed my master's degree, I knew I wanted to add the Principals Endorsement to my license, but I did not want to enroll in another full master's program. I was able to pull from previous leadership experience as I worked through the micro-credentials while still gaining valuable experience during my internship activities. The program is challenging but rewarding as it offers a way to reflect on previous experiences while building new skills as an educational leader."
- Jon Pieper, division head for Career & Technical Education, Physical Education, Drivers Education, and Health Education at Elk Grove High School
“The Alternative Principal Endorsement program was a great fit because everything was online, and I could work at my own pace. The flexibility allowed me to balance professional responsibilities while advancing my leadership skills. I would highly recommend this program to aspiring leaders.”
- Dr. Maribel Guerrero, director of language acquisition, Naperville CUSD 203
Dr. Ed Howerton, director of graduate education programs at Aurora University and former district administrator, shared: "Our program leans heavily into a ‘learning by doing’ framework that is extremely self-driven. It provides flexibility for professionals and ownership in the learning process. Many of our completers have moved into administrative roles sooner than if they had gone through a master’s degree program, and filling leadership voids in our schools is key to promoting student success.” Dr. Jason Leahy, executive director of the Illinois Principals Association, also shared: “When compared to a little over a decade ago, the State of Illinois has experienced an almost 60% reduction in the number of individuals who earn their principal endorsement each year. This alternative pathway provides a rigorous, cost effective, and expedited opportunity for quality educators to demonstrate they possess the skills necessary to be effective school leaders.” Eligible candidates must hold a current Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL), possess a master’s degree in education, have completed five years of teaching or school support experience, are employed in a full‑time, permanent educational position before program start, and complete required evaluation training and principal content exams to qualify for endorsement. Currently, 81 students are enrolled at various stages of the program at Aurora University, including 30 students that began this fall semester. Twenty-four students have completed the program since its inception, with 12 individuals working in leadership positions. Aurora University Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, Aurora University is committed to preparing leaders for the future of education. For a full overview of the program’s structure and registration information, visit the Alternative Principal Endorsement at https://aurora.edu/academics/graduate/principal-endorsement/index.html. Illinois Principals Association The Illinois Principals Association is a leadership organization which serves more than 6,900 educational leaders throughout the state of Illinois and whose mission is to develop, support, and advocate for innovative educational leaders. For more information about the IPA, please visit www.ilprincipals.org. Program Contacts Aurora University – Ed Howerton, director of Graduate Education Programs, ehowerton@aurora.edu, 630-844-5626 Ed Leaders Network / Illinois Principals Association – Arlin Peebles, Ed Leaders Network director, arlin.peebles@ilprincipals.org, 217-241-0598
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2025 Contact Illinois Bar Foundation Jessie Reeves, director of events & administration Ph: 312-920-4681 jreeves@illinoisbarfoundation.org
CHICAGO, November 5, 2025 - Mark D. Hassakis, a personal injury and workers' compensation attorney at Hassakis & Hassakis, P.C. of Mount Vernon, Illinois, was recently honored with the Illinois Bar Foundation’s Distinguished Award for Excellence on Oct. 17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. Mark D. Hassakis has the legal advocacy of Illinois victims in his blood. Born and raised in Mount Vernon, Mark followed in the footsteps of his father, Demetri, a lifelong Mount Vernon attorney, to practice law at Hassakis & Hassakis, P.C, now celebrating 75 years. Mark has dedicated his professional life to helping his fellow Illinois citizens and the community at large. In addition to his exceptional career representing individuals’ needs in the areas of personal injury and workers’ compensation, professional malpractice, and general tort injury cases, Mark is a true leader with unparalleled dedication to giving back to the community. The Illinois Bar Foundation’s Distinguished Award for Excellence, the organization’s highest honor, is awarded annually to individuals whose career and personal life exemplify their ongoing commitment to the law and legal community. “The selection of Mark Hassakis for this year's Distinguished Award of Excellence reflects our belief in the principle that legal excellence and community service go hand in hand. His career demonstrates how individual attorneys can make a lasting impact not just through their practice, but through their commitment to strengthening the legal profession and ensuring access to justice for all Illinois residents.”
Lauren N. Tuckey, Tuckey Law Illinois Bar Foundation President 2025-26
Bar leadership and community impact Mark's commitment to the legal profession extends far beyond his practice. As president of the Illinois State Bar Association (2010-11), he championed juvenile justice reform, established young attorney mentorship programs, and highlighted the vital role lawyers play in strengthening their communities. His passion for juvenile justice led to the establishment of the Illinois Bar Foundation's M. Denny Hassakis Fund, which focuses on improving Illinois' juvenile justice system through public policy changes and programs supporting vulnerable youth. Mark served as president of the Illinois Bar Foundation from 2000 to 2002, during which time he was instrumental in creating the organization's signature fundraising events, including the Gala and Lawyers Rock concert. Mark has held numerous other leadership positions, including chairman of the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company; president of the Jefferson County Bar Association; and board member of the Hellenic Bar Association, the Lawyers' Trust Fund of Illinois, and the Juvenile Justice Initiative. Beyond his legal work, Mark has been a driving force in Mount Vernon and Southern Illinois development. He has spearheaded projects focused on downtown development, historical building restoration, and the support of community parks and arts initiatives. Notable achievements include bringing nationally acclaimed jazz artists to teach area grade school students and commissioning an "Abraham Lincoln as a Lawyer" sculpture for the 5th Appellate Court grounds in Mount Vernon. A proud Northwestern University alumnus, Mark continues to serve as an alumni regent and member of the Northwestern University Leadership Circle since 2012, acting as an ambassador for the university. Mark's extensive community involvement includes leadership roles with the Downtown Development Corporation of Mt. Vernon, Jefferson County Historical Society, Lincoln Park Foundation, Vernon West Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow), and numerous other local organizations dedicated to enriching Southern Illinois. Bar Admissions