Books written by Rick Kogan

Early Royko: Up Against It in Chicago

At an hour when most people are concerned with washing their faces, downing coffee or getting to work on time, a young man found himself deeply concerned with Douglas' marriage. In a high-pitched, adenoid-filtered voice, ...
America's Mom: The Life, Letters, and Legacy of Ann Lan

His father, Morris, was a Romanian immigrant who had grown up in Detroit and made his living as a traveling salesman, selling ladies' aprons and notions to stores throughout the Midwest. He often took young Jules with him on these trips ...
Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Murder, and the Price of Truth

A tense, page-turning true-crime thriller follows Bob Lowe, a young mechanic and family man, who became the sole witness to a brutal 1972 mob hit in Chicago as he struggles with his new role in life and tries to survive as a "protected" ...
Big Bill of Chicago

Big Bill of Chicago profiles the whole brawling arena of city politics from the turn of the century to the Prohibition Era.
America's Mom: The Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Ann Landers

Award–winning journalist Rick Kogan was Ann Landers's last editor and close friend, and in America's Mom he paints an intimate, affectionate, knowing, and deeply honest portrait of a remarkable woman whose real life story rivaled anything ...
America's Mom

For nearly fifty years an entire nation turned to this quick-witted, worldly-wise counselor for advice on everything from proper dinner etiquette to sex, yet few actually knew the real woman behind the byline.Award-winning journalist Rick ...
A Chicago Tavern: A Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream

Chicago newspaperman Rick Kogan plunks down at a barstool at the Billy Goat Tavern and tells the tales of the city landmark, which became a haven for newspaper reporters, policemen, politicians, and anyone else drawn to the hospitality and ...
Sidewalks: Portraits of Chicago

Here is Chicago, past, present, and--let's hope--future, captured in the unique archive of Sidewalks."--Publisher's website.
Sidewalks: Portraits of Chicago

Honorable Mention, 2007 Chicago Book Clinic Awards Crystal Book Award for Excellence in Design Few people know Chicago as do Rick Kogan and Charles Osgood, and their "Sidewalks" column...