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
OpinionsThe funeral of former President George H.W. Bush was a great celebration of a noble American patriot. There were the tears of his son that I won't forget. And there was the respect shown to him by his nation. Read More
OpinionsIf there is one thing worse than that photograph of a little Honduran boy breathing through an oxygen mask after being hit with tear gas on our Southern border, it's this: Using that image as a sentimental weapon to fend... Read More
OpinionsThat a grandstanding show pony like CNN's Jim Acosta would be transformed by President Donald Trump into a First Amendment crusader knight is perhaps a sad but fitting comment on our age. Acosta is back at work... Read More
OpinionsAfter the midterm elections, Americans were still trying to see past the political spin to the serious implications of it all. Did the Democrats win a short-term victory by taking the House and, with it, subpoena power allowing... Read More
OpinionsWhen Kanye West condemned a Republican president after Hurricane Katrina smashed New Orleans, Democrats and their media biscuit eaters weren't all that upset. Many were overjoyed that West, the megastar from... Read More
OpinionsFuture historians probably won't devote entire volumes to Hollywood actor Matt Damon for his part in the grotesque savaging of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Sadly, Damon will most likely be just a footnote, some jester in... Read More
OpinionsIt is tempting to watch the political spectacle of Democrats destroying Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as if it were only some shameful partisan circus. Read More
OpinionsU.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and former President Barack Obama are out making stump speeches, rallying the Democratic base for the critical midterm elections in November in the hopes of crippling President Donald Trump by taking control of Congress. Read More
OpinionsMayor Rahm Emanuel drops a political bombshell on Chicago, announcing he won't run for re-election, and just like that the race for mayor has been transformed: It's Lord of the Flies on LaSalle Street. Read More
OpinionsAs Roman Catholic bishops tear at each other, as Pope Francis refuses comment even while standing accused of covering up sexual abuse, I thought of a Bible story. Read More
In The News
Health
Voting
Opinions
ChinaHONG KONG — Some 3,000 of the most powerful officials in China are preparing for the annual parliamentary pageantry known as the National People’s Congress. Although it’s China’s main legislature, the ruling... Read More
Supreme CourtPHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Supreme Court announced said Tuesday that it would not consider a defamation case involving Bill Cosby. But the announcement came with a twist: Justice Clarence Thomas used the appeal... Read More
In The NewsWASHINGTON — As a provocative Republican operative and former adviser to President Donald Trump, Roger Stone has always described his political strategy as “attack, attack, attack.” Read More
CongressWASHINGTON — A House committee is deepening its investigation into what it describes as ongoing White House efforts to “rush” the transfer of highly sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, a move some... Read More
In The NewsKarl Lagerfeld, who transformed Chanel from a faded fashion empire into a world power of style, has died. He was about 85. Lagerfeld, who also designed the Chloe collection, Fendi furs and his own brand-name... Read More
