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Daley: A Man And a City
Sam Weller -- 5/22/00
Little, Brown biography takes the Windy City's own power broker outside of the Loop


"Men may come and men may go, but the name of Richard J. Daley will go on forever."


These words, spoken by a mourner at the 1976 funeral of Chicago's legendary six-term mayor, still resonate today, since Daley's legacy is as apparent as the Windy City skyline.

During his reign, the mayor initiated or helped arrange to build some of Chicago's best known landmarks, including the Sears Tower, O'Hare International Airport and the Dan Ryan Expressway. Under his watch, the city rose from economic decline to boom, but at the same time, sank into racial segregation and became a bastion of corruption, impropriety and backroom politics. And, as many Vietnam War anniversaries occur this year, the images from the infamous riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention play over again in the national conscience.

Always a national figure, Daley, father of the current mayor ,Richard M., has been the subject of numerous books, most notably Boss by Mike Royko, now a New American Library paperback. What distinguishes the latest, American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley: His Battle for Chicago and the Nation by Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor (Little, Brown, May) is that neither the co-authors nor the publisher are Illinois natives, which seemed the norm with many other Daley books. As welcoming as the City of Broad Shoulders can be, it d sn't like outsiders mixing in its politics.

Taylor told PW that the Daley family was less than enthusiastic about a book penned by two non-Chicagoans, even though she arrived about 15 years ago as a transplant from Time magazine's New York office and is the current literary and Sunday magazine editor at the Chicago Tribune. Cohen is a native New Yorker and senior writer at Time, covering law and politics. The co-authors met as Time interns in 1983, are best friends and have been working on the Daley bio for the better part of the '90s.

Why Daley? "When I moved to Chicago, it seemed that all roads led to Daley," explained Taylor. "His fingerprints are all over contemporary Chicago--from the bustling downtown to the tragic public housing projects."

Taylor said she and Cohen felt lucky to spend so much time researching such an enigmatic figure. "We just hope we did him and the city justice," she said. "This is the biography of a man and a city."

Chicago pols might view Taylor as an outsider, but considering her position at the Trib, being a book author has Taylor experiencing some major publishing role reversal anxiety. Since 1996, Taylor has captained the Tribune's Books section, reinventing its voice and redesigning its format from tabloid to broadsheet. Now, with American Pharaoh, she is the first to admit to having a new respect and understanding of what it takes to promote a book, as she finds herself worrying about reviews, author signings, advertising and, ironically, getting media coverage.

"I'll always go into a bookstore differently now," said Taylor from her office at the Trib Tower. As a measure to insure that her roles as literary editor and new author do not blur, Taylor will be easing back from her literary-related editorial duties for a month after the book is released. She told PW that the sections of the paper she is responsible for will not cover, discuss or even allude to her book.

Cohen agreed that switching roles from reporter to promoter is somewhat uncomfortable. "We're used to asking the questions, not answering them," he told PW. "A reporter is someone who stays in the background, who likes to ask questions and write it all down in a notebook and then pull it all together."

What they did pull together on Daley from the voluminous stacks of Chicago's Harold Washington Library and the Chicago Historical Society was a huge feat of reportage. The authors sifted through thousands of documents and interviewed more than 100 sources, including members of the Daley family.

"I was surprised and delighted to find a wide array of important and colorful characters who are part of Daley's story--from the p try professor from Vassar who ran the Chicago Housing Authority to the one-legged congressman who presided over the black party machine," said Taylor.

While Little, Brown would not divulge initial print run figures, publicist Katie Long emphasized that American Pharaoh is getting a Chicago-sized push. Taylor and Cohen have already appeared on National Public Radio's Fresh Air with Terry Gross and they are slated to appear on CNN's Inside Politics and C-Span's Booknotes. Major launch parties are planned in Chicago and New York. And, of course, the book's release is timed perfectly for BookExpo America's return to Daleyland.

The book has received four starred pre-pub reviews, including one from PW (Forecasts, May 1). Other favorable reviews appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal and Brill's Content.

"Since we have gotten good reviews," said Taylor, "I'm actually much less anxious than I thought I would be. When people started to read it and they liked it, I was so thrilled."

Spoken just like an author. "I still can't really believe it's finished," said Taylor. "Even with a little box of the books in my office, I'm afraid to look at them. It represents these years of work."
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