In my eyes, there are two reactions to Theaster Gates. The first, who is this man? The second, I love this man. Gates inspires rapturous attention from his audiences and his artistic career has flourished exponentially in the past decade. But this is not about what Gates has done., It's about who Gates is and continues to be for the public at large.
I am not an artist but I see in Gates a creative force that is unparalleled. Others perhaps feel the same way, too. His latest exhibition then, is a reminder of his place as an important, even critical cultural figure for the city of Chicago and for lovers of the arts in general. Gates is a cultural hero, someone to admire, to study, to find purpose in with each new career move.
Theaster Gates is my cultural hero. So too are Zadie Smith and artist Lorna Simpson.
Last week I got to meet a man in the last six hours of his life, although I obviously didn’t know that at the time. I don’t remember his name or where he was from, but I believe he was born in India. I shook his hand and looked at his face. He was visiting my roommate, dressed in a comically oversized suit and a cheap bowtie. He looked like he was dressed to perform at a child’s birthday party, the kind of man who might be secretly versed in magic. With golden apple cheeks covered in whiskers, he had the kind of warmth that sticks with you, like someone out of a Bob Hope movie.
As a veteran female sports reporter, Cheryl Raye Stout has had to prove her chops over the nearly 30 years she’s been reporting in this city. We had a delightful phone conversation about breaking through the glass ceiling (which took the form of the Bears locker room door), her rapport with some of the city's sports legends and her thoughts on head injuries. Go 
There is plenty of time for the Bulls to heal all their various ailments after losing the series to Miami. In the case of Derrick Rose, he has some other wounds that need to be repaired between now and when he returns to play next year.
