John Kass
John Kass has covered a variety of topics since arriving at the Chicago Tribune in 1983.
The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born June 23, 1956, on Chicago’s South Side and grew up there and in Oak Lawn. He held a number of jobs — merchant marine sailor, ditch digger, waiter — before becoming a film student at Columbia College in Chicago. There, he worked at the student newspaper and caught the attention of Daryle Feldmeir, chairman of the journalism department and former editor of the Chicago Daily News.
Feldmeir and journalism professor Les Brownlee helped him obtain an internship at the Daily Calumet in 1980, where Kass worked as a reporter until he left for the Tribune.
In 2004, Kass was awarded the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi national award for general column writing, the Scripps Howard Foundation’s National Journalism Award for commentary, the Press Club of Atlantic City’s National Headliner Award for local interest column writing on a variety of subjects, and the Chicago Headline Club’s Lisagor Award for best daily newspaper columnist.
In 1992, Kass won the Chicago Tribune’s Beck Award for writing.
Kass lives in the western suburbs with his wife and twin sons. His column appears on Page A2 of the Chicago Tribune every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Recent Work
Have you ever wondered what happens to flat-earthers? Not all spend their days eating pudding with plastic spoons and rewatching... Read More
Have you ever wondered what happens to flat-earthers? Not all spend their days eating pudding with plastic spoons and rewatching old sitcoms — or as fabulists hanging at the end of the bar, boasting of their heroic exploits until closing time. Some become president of the... Read More
Have you read, heard or seen that important news story about an Asian American federal judge — born in Taiwan... Read More
Have you read, heard or seen that important news story about an Asian American federal judge — born in Taiwan and subject to discrimination growing up — who confronted and denounced those who discriminate by race? No? With all that’s been in the news lately about... Read More
When I was a boy about 11, I committed a crime that changed my life. I stole a book. I... Read More
When I was a boy about 11, I committed a crime that changed my life. I stole a book. I was a book thief. I found it in another kid’s desk and began reading, hiding it behind some boring textbook, and couldn’t give it up. And... Read More
In the pre-COVID-19 days, there were those large, intergenerational Sunday dinners when nothing was off the table for discussion in... Read More
In the pre-COVID-19 days, there were those large, intergenerational Sunday dinners when nothing was off the table for discussion in America. Even now, if we were sitting down together, we’d talk of President Donald Trump lying to his supporters about overturning the election, before he incited... Read More
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need,” said Marcus Tullius Cicero. Old Marcus could... Read More
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need,” said Marcus Tullius Cicero. Old Marcus could have been talking about coping with these pandemic lockdowns, but he wasn’t. Happily, I have a home library, but no garden. And I can’t possibly go... Read More
My mother is 90 years old, one of the elderly isolated in nursing homes, unable to hug and kiss her... Read More
My mother is 90 years old, one of the elderly isolated in nursing homes, unable to hug and kiss her children, alone because of the pandemic. And this will be our first Christmas apart. She lived with us for 25 years. But after her stroke, she’d... Read More
Attorney General William Barr, vilified witlessly and unreasonably for years by the left — and most recently by conservatives —... Read More
Attorney General William Barr, vilified witlessly and unreasonably for years by the left — and most recently by conservatives — has just performed two critically important services to the republic: After the election, Barr refused to put his name or the Department of Justice behind any... Read More
When we were kids on the playground and there was an angry dispute, someone would always shout “majority rules.” And... Read More
When we were kids on the playground and there was an angry dispute, someone would always shout “majority rules.” And we’d vote. If the losers didn’t like the outcome, there were two options: punch the winners in the stomach or take the ball and go home.... Read More
President Donald Trump’s failure to loudly and forcefully condemn white supremacists in his debate with Joe Biden was an unmitigated... Read More
President Donald Trump’s failure to loudly and forcefully condemn white supremacists in his debate with Joe Biden was an unmitigated disaster that may have cost him a chance at reelection. What Americans witnessed in the chaotic dumpster fire of a debate was this: an angry, stubborn... Read More
In The News
Health
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More From The Well
WASHINGTON — Even years after the fact, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden recalled the moment with a sense of astonished... Read More
WASHINGTON — Even years after the fact, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden recalled the moment with a sense of astonished disbelief. Biden was second lady, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, at the time, and Maria Shriver was the... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved Pivya (pivmecillinam) tablets for the treatment of female adults with uncomplicated urinary... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved Pivya (pivmecillinam) tablets for the treatment of female adults with uncomplicated urinary tract infections. “Uncomplicated UTIs are a very common condition impacting women and one of the most frequent reasons for antibiotic... Read More
Nearly everyone has an opinion on whether the United States should force a TikTok ban over national security concerns. Voters support a... Read More
Nearly everyone has an opinion on whether the United States should force a TikTok ban over national security concerns. Voters support a ban, Trump opposes a ban and Biden just signed Congress’ divestment bill. Everyone from security hawks to tech experts to “suburbanites” have weighed in. But what gets lost... Read More
NEWARK, N.J. — Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., the former city council president who succeeded his father in the House... Read More
NEWARK, N.J. — Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., the former city council president who succeeded his father in the House and represented his district for more than a decade, died Wednesday morning. Payne’s death was confirmed by New Jersey Gov.... Read More
WASHINGTON — Three Madonna fans are suing the singer for her late arrival and quality of her performance in December... Read More
WASHINGTON — Three Madonna fans are suing the singer for her late arrival and quality of her performance in December in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeks class action certification.... Read More
NEW ORLEANS — The Biden administration will hold up to a dozen offshore wind energy lease sales through 2028, Interior... Read More
NEW ORLEANS — The Biden administration will hold up to a dozen offshore wind energy lease sales through 2028, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Wednesday morning. In remarks at the International Partnering Forum conference in New Orleans, Haaland said the... Read More