Good afternoon, Chicago ✶
Grant DePorter has shared big news with us before.
There was the time in 2004 when, in an attempt to break the Cubs’ World Series “curse of the Billy Goat,” the P.T. Barnumesque owner of Harry Caray’s restaurant bought the infamous Bartman ball for $113,824.16 and exploded the thing before a live television audience.
Or the time he offered a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the missing puck Patrick Kane shot across the goal line to win the 2010 Stanley Cup.
On Friday, DePorter shared his biggest news yet: The cancer he’s been battling is in remission.
In today’s newsletter: Sun-Times’ Mitch Dudek has reporting on DePorter’s recovery journey and what’s next.
Plus: The Art Institute’s new ancient Roman sculpture exhibit, Northwestern University’s “Severance” star and more community news you need to know below. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Harry Caray’s restaurant owner Grant DePorter discusses cancer battle — and being in remission
Reporting by Mitch Dudek
The beginning: Last year over Christmas vacation in Colorado, a pain in the back of Grant DePorter’s neck led to a trip to the hospital, where doctors puzzled over an expanding list of symptoms. He was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma in early January and spent three weeks at a hospital in Denver before returning to Chicago for treatment.
Opening up: “I thought, ‘People are going to start wondering what’s going on with me. I’m a pretty public person.’ So I decided to post everything on Facebook. And the reaction was just overwhelming,” DePorter said.
The response: People have been dropping off food and care packages and calling and sending texts nonstop, he said. The head of Eli’s Cheesecake offered unlimited cheesecake. The Loukas family, which owns the Cubby Bear, sent books and blankets. Harry Caray’s staff let DePorter know they had his back. Folks from the Cubs and White Sox reached out, too.
Journey continues: DePorter is not fully finished with chemotherapy; he has two more sessions. But it’s different now. “I feel stronger now that I know it’s working, and I started laughing again,” he said.
Next project: During chemo, DePorter was thankful he could focus on his next big production, which culminates Tuesday with a “curse-breaking ceremony” meant to halt the misfortunes of the Sox (Caray was the team’s announcer for years before joining the Cubs). Tuesday’s event coincides with the annual Toast to Harry Caray, which DePorter began 27 years ago after Caray’s death.
Key quote: “I’ll still be raising a glass this year, but it will be filled with water instead of Budweiser,” said DePorter. “Doctor’s orders. I’m supposed to drink 64 ounces a day.”
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Lollapalooza lineup: The music festival announced its lineup ahead of its return to Grant Park July 31-Aug. 3, with Olivia Rodrigo, Doechii, Sabrina Carpenter and Tyler, The Creator among the headlining acts.
- Tape troubles: The attorney of state Sen. Emil Jones III says the recorded statements of his onetime colleague, the late Martin Sandoval, should be barred from Jones’ upcoming trial because there will be no opportunity to cross-examine him.
- CTA scheduled changes: The changes — largely along the Blue Line — begin April 20. Trains on the Red and Yellow lines will have their morning schedules shifted to better align with each other.
- Cubs’ Opening Day: The Cubs lost to the Dodgers in the first of a two-game series in Tokyo Tuesday. Sun-Times Cubs reporter Maddie Lee is on location — listen to an audio postcard of her experience so far here.
- Dylan Thomas was Welsh: When constructing a gathering of Irish poets for St. Patrick’s Day, columnist Neil Steinberg erroneously included Dylan Thomas, a Welshman. Steinberg writes of his mistake in his latest column.
ARTS BEAT 🎨
Art Institute showcases ancient Roman sculptures in unprecedented ‘Myth and Marble’ exhibit
Reporting by Kyle MacMillan – For the Sun-Times
The Art Institute of Chicago’s new temporary exhibit “Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection,” puts nearly 60 works of ancient Roman sculpture on display.
Co-organized by the Art Institute and Rome-based Torlonia Foundation, it is the first time works from the private holding are being shown in North America. The show runs through June 29.
Most of the selections are marble portraits of emperors and officials and depictions of gods and goddesses, but there are also reliefs, animal sculptures and funerary monuments.
“These are some of the largest sculpted works coming out the Roman world and these are things that we don’t see in U.S. museums. You have to go to Italy to see objects like this,” said Katharine A. Raff, the Art Institute curator of the arts of Greece, Rome and Byzantium.
Visitors who give this exhibit a try are likely to be surprised by the artistic audacity of this work and how fresh it seems two millennia after its creation.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Sarah Bock juggles ‘Severance’ role, classes at Northwestern
Reporting by Erica Thompson
Inside the sterile walls of Lumon Industries, Sarah Bock is “Miss Huang,” an ambitious, humorless child employee vying for power.
Outside, she is a friendly college freshman at Northwestern University, performing in school theater productions, taking midterms and making dinner plans in the city with friends.
Both the actress and her character on the hit Apple TV+ show “Severance” know how to play the theremin, though.
Juggling the worlds of academia and entertainment, Bock is a great fit for a show about duality. The series follows employees who have chosen to undergo a medical procedure to separate their work and personal lives. It will close out its second season Friday.
As a new cast member, 18-year-old Bock is embracing newfound fame while striving to stay humble and focused on her education. But the North Carolina native is adjusting to her new reality.
“It’s a lot of communicating with my teachers and professors to make sure I’m up to date on my work, like if I need to leave to go to L.A. and do press or whatever,” she said. “But also having really good people surrounding me who knew me before I was on the show and don’t really care that I’m on the show is nice because it helps keep me grounded.”
Bock said she chose to attend Northwestern following a suggestion from her castmate Britt Lower (Helly R./Helena), an alum and Illinois native. Bock is studying theater, but hopes to take on a second major in psychology.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Dorothy Hernandez
Copy editor: Angie Myers