Richie Daley

John Kass' column today is a masterpiece--it discusses his long and complicated relationship with our soon-to-be outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley. Highly recommended.

I've met Mayor Daley a couple of times (I wrote about those meetings a few years ago), and I know people that have worked for him. I can tell you that my impression of him is very different than the impression of the people that have worked for him.

I always liked the guy.

RIP: Empire Carpet Man

I missed this story yesterday. The spokesperson for Empire Carpet, the one we've known as the Empire Carpet Man for more than thirty years, passed away this week. His name was Lynn Hauldren, and he was 89.

I met Lynn several times over the years, including one time when fellow producer Vince Argento and I went to Lynn's apartment in Evanston to record a bit for the John Landecker show. It was the 20th anniversary of "The Empire Strikes Back," so I want to say it was 1999.

I wrote a bit using out of context lines from the original movie, and created a trailer for a new film called "The Empire Carpet Man Strikes Back." I called Lynn to ask if he would record some dialogue for the bit. He was a great sport about it, and did it without complaint. I don't remember exactly what happened in the bit, but I believe The Empire Carpet Man saved the galaxy...and threw in free installation, and a Michael Jordan basketball.

RIP, Lynn. You were a Chicago institution.