Honors
Jim Harry, secretary of the state Senate, was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries. Harry was a radio reporter before joining the staff of former Gov. Richard Ogilvie in 1969. He was press secretary for Republican Senate leaders for 14 years and has been Senate secretary for seven years.

Former Illinois lawmaker acquitted
Former state Rep. James Phelan, who represented Chicago's Southwest Side from 1991 to 1995, and Arthur Hartmann, a retired state police major and former secretary of state police supervisor, were acquitted of federal mail fraud charges. Prosecutors had charged Phelan and Hartmann, who owned a security firm together, with paying kickbacks to get contracts. Last month, a federal jury found both men not guilty.

Vachel Lindsay's travelogs have been published
Rosehill Press of Springfield has just published Tramping Across America: Travel Writings of Vachel Lindsay. The paperback puts together the Springfield poet's two travel books, Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty (1914) and A Handy Guide for Beggars (1916). Lindsay's long out-of-print novel, The Golden Book of Springfield, also has been republished.

Dan Guillory, a professor of English at Millikin University in Decatur and contributor to Illinois Issues, wrote the introductory essay for Tramping Across America. He says Lindsay's works serve as a precursor to such American road classics as John Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie and Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

After Lincoln, Lindsay is arguably the state capital's most famous resident. He was born in Springfield in 1879. In 1931, he poisoned himself by drinking Lysol, dying in the house where he was born.

ART FOR THE ARTISTS Governor awards the arts Winners of the 1999 Governor's Awards for the Arts received this sculpture designed by Illinois artist Richard Hunt at ceremonies last month. Robert Falls, artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, was awarded the honor as an individual artist. Most recently, Falls won four 1999 Tony Awards, including Best Director and Best Revival of a Play, for his production of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. The Hinsdale Center for the Arts and its director. Sherry DeVries, took home the honor for arts organizations. The governor recognized Quincy Newspapers Inc. and the Cultural Arts Programs of the Decatur Park District for their arts funding and programming. And, John H. Bryan, chairman and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corp., received special recognition for support of the arts.

Illinois Issues December 1999 37

WlU's Regional Touring Theater Company marks its 25th season
For a quarter century Western Illinois University's Regional Touring Company has found inspiration in children's literature. The group turns stories and fairy tales into stage dramas and then hits the road, playing to thousands of Illinois elementary school students each year.

The campus company's fall production is A Tribute to Shel Silverstein. According to theater company spokesperson Debra Miller, five WIU graduate students take full responsibility for the tribute to the late children's author. They manage all aspects of stage production, including acting, design, costumes and props. The company puts on more than 140 shows a year, sometimes two or three performances a day.

The Silverstein tribute continues through the close of the academic semester this month. In the spring, the company will resume touring with Tales of the Arabian Nights.

Two Illinois fiction writers nominated for National Book Award
Among the nominees for this year's National Book Award were two Illinois authors. Jean Thompson, a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was nominated for her short story collection, Who Do You Love? And Kent Haruf was named a finalist for his novel, Plainsong, which has been compared to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Haruf teaches fiction writing at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Chinese immigrant Ha Jin was the winner for his novel, Waiting. The announcement was made November 17 by the National Book Foundation.

U of I exhibit offers insignts into Lincoln and Lincoln scholors This photograph of a stern Abraham Lincoln is part of the exhibit "Learning About Lincoln at the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign," which runs through December 23 in the Rare Book and Special Collections Library on the university campus. The story behind the picture gives insight into the 16th president's character. According to Urbana Judge J.O. Cunningham, who was present when the picture was taken, Lincoln came to the silting without a jacket. He borrowed one from a much shorter man, making the sleeves come up well beyond his wrists. Lincoln got the giggles and, in an effort to gain control, he ended up with this severe look on his face. Other items in the exhibit include a plaster life mask of Lincoln that he sat for shortly before being nominated for president and a mask of his debating opponent, fellow Illinois an Stephen A. Douglas. But books are at the heart of this exhibit. The University of Illinois and its library began in 1867, part of the land grant university system initiated by the Morrill Act. That law was signed by President Lincoln in 1862. Now the library is the largest university library in the nation, and its collection contains holdings of all major Lincoln scholarship, including the Sandburg Collection, which contains drafts of Carl Sandburg's poems about Lincoln, drafts and proofs of his Lincoln hooks and his correspondence with Lincoln scholars and collectors. Sandburg published his four-volume biography of Lincoln in 1939.

38 December 1999 Illinois Issues

QUOTABLE
" Carol Moseley-Braun is the latest victim of increasing sentiment expressed by an increasing number of Republican senators that I think is very dangerous for this country and very, very harmful to the progress we've made on minority rights. "

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, as quoted in The Washington Post. Daschle was exasperated with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms' campaign against Moseley-Braun s ambassadorship to New Zealand. Helms, a Republican from North Carolina, and Illinois U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald of Inverness cast the only dissenting votes as the Senate approved the appointment last month.

Bush names Illinois team
Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush named his Illinois campaign committee and, except for the absence of Speaker of the U.S. House Dennis Hastert of Yorkville and U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald of Inverness, the list is a who's who of Illinois GOP politicians.

Gov. George Ryan is state chair. Among the other members of the committee: Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood, state Attorney General Jim Ryan, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, state Senate President James "Pate" Philip of Wood Dale, state House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst, and U.S. Reps. Henry Hyde of Bensenville, John Porter of Wilmette, Jerry Weller of Morris, Judy Biggert of Hinsdale, Tom Ewing of Pontiac, Don Manzullo of Egan, Ray LaHood of Peoria and John Shimkus of Collinsville.

Zero tolerance
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was jailed last month for attempting to re-enroll six Decatur Eisenhower High School students. The school district handed the students two-year suspensions for fighting at a football game.

OBIT
"Sweetness"
Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, died November 1 of bile duct cancer. He was 45. The cancer was discovered earlier this year while he was undergoing treatment for a rare form of liver disease.

The running back, nicknamed "Sweetness," was never the biggest, nor the fastest. But what he lacked in physical attributes he made up in desire and dedication. Widely celebrated in a town that prides itself on a similar blue collar work ethic, Payton was the most beloved sports hero in Chicago in the years between the retirement of Ernie Banks and the ascension of Michael Jordan. Literally carrying Chicago teams through mediocre seasons, Payton in 1985 helped the Bears capture national attention by dominating opponents and winning the Super Bowl.

He was not only "Sweetness" on the field, but off as well, contributing to numerous charities through the Walter Payton Foundation. His small Hoffman Estates-based organization has collected toys and clothes for children who spend the holiday season as wards of the Department of Children and Family Services. Payton also routinely provided autographs and other memorabilia to charitable groups for auctions to raise money.

"It's sad to me because he had a lot greater impact on me than I had on him," Mike Ditka, Payton's former Bears coach, told The Associated Press. "He was the best football player I've ever seen. And probably one of the best people I've ever met."

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