When Mary Schmich came to Chicago 20 years ago to begin writing a column for the Chicago Tribune, she says she couldn’t have imagined she’d still be writing her column today. Yet, on April 16, she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in commentary for the very same column.

As Mary wrote on April 18 about her beginnings as a columnist here, “Where do you start to try to understand and write about a city you barely know, one that’s bigger than some countries? On a chilly afternoon in the April I arrived, I sat in a Coffee Chicago with a yellow pad and tried to answer the question. I wrote down things like: Go out. Get to know people. Introduce Chicago people to each other. Make the city visible. Make it feel like a small town. Stories!”

Join us for an evening of conversation with Mary Schmich to discuss her Pulitzer-winning body of work, her process for finding and writing Chicago’s stories, and more.

NPR’s Cheryl Corley will ask the questions on everyone’s minds at an Inside the Actors Studio-style interview brought to you by the Association for Women Journalists–Chicago and the Columbia College Chicago Journalism Department.

Light appetizers will be provided.