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When
Flying was
Glamorous in
Chicago
CHRISTOPHER
LYNCH
The
Lounge at Iwan
Ries ---
Tuesday,
April 26,
5:30-8:30pm
Cocktails
at 5:30, with the
presentation at 6:00
for about thirty
minutes,
followed by Q&A
and general cocktail
conversation.
From
1931 to 1961,
Chicago's Midway
Airport was the
busiest airport in the
world. Aircraft
flight ranges were
limited, forcing
planes to land at a
convenient half-way
point while flying
cross-country, and
sightings of actors
such as John Wayne,
James Stewart, and
Marilyn Monroe in the
terminal at Midway
Airport were
a fairly common
occurrence.
A trove of
recently discovered
negatives by a staff
photographer at both
Midway and O'Hare
Airports from the
1920s through the
sixties show some of
what the glamor of
flying used to
be.
Chicago airport
historian Christopher
Lynch describes the
photographer, Mike
Rotunno, this way:
Al
Capone dove for
the floor when he
saw the flash of
the camera, while
his startled body
guards drew their
guns. The actress
Miriam Hopkins ran
screaming from the
camera while
Lyndon Johnson ran
towards it.
General Jimmy
Doolittle called
him a son of a
bitch, while the
Pope called him a
friend. Bob Hope
asked if he would
escort Hope's wife
to church, and
John Barrymore
asked if he would
hide him from his
mistress. Cary
Grant demanded a
shoe shine,
Eleanor Roosevelt
demanded an
apology, and Harry
Truman demanded a
bourbon. Who was
this guy? He was
Mike Rotunno, and
he was a
photographer for
one of Chicago's
newspapers.
Christopher
Lynch has spent most
of his life around
Midway Airport, where
his family ran Monarch
Air Service, a fixed
based operator that
serviced aircraft, for
over six
decades. He has
a B.A. in History and
Religious Studies from
Lawrence University,
and maintains a
private pilot’s
license. He is
the author of four
books: Chicago's
Midway Airport
(2002), The
History of Chicago's
O'Hare Airport (2011),
When Hollywood
Landed in Chicago's
Midway Airport
(2012), and, most
recently, Now
Arriving: Traveling
To And From Chicago
By Air (2015).
Chris
will be bringing some
copies of his latest
book, talk about how
he came to write it,
show some rare slides,
and tell stories about
the days when
flying was glamorous
in Chicago.
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About
the
Cigar Society of
Chicago
ONE OF
THE OLDEST AND greatest
traditions of the city
clubs of Chicago is the
discussion of
intellectual, social,
legal, artistic,
historical, scientific,
musical, theatrical, and
philosophical issues in
the company of educated,
bright, and
appropriately
provocative individuals,
all under the beneficent
influence of substantial
amounts of tobacco and
spirits. The
Cigar Society of
Chicago
embraces this tradition
and extends it with its
Informal Smokers,
University Series
lectures, and Cigar
Society Dinners,
in which cigars, and
from time to time pipes
and cigarettes, appear
as an important
component of our version
of the classical
symposium. To be
included in the Cigar
Society's mailing list,
write to the secretary
at
curtis.tuckey@logicophilosophicus.org
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