READING CHICAGO

DESTINATION
Chicago, Illinois

DATES
May 2 – 6, 2013 (4 nights)

READINGS
Nelson Algren poem, Chicago, City on the Make (section to be read aloud, not discussed)
Carl Sandburg poems, “Chicago,” “Skyscraper” & “Chicago Poet”
Gwendolyn Brooks poems, “The Preacher Ruminates: Behind the Sermon” & “The Pool Player”
Saul Bellow short story, "Looking for Mr. Green"
Studs Terkel article, "For Studs Terkel, Chicago Was a City Called Heaven" (background, not discussed)
Jane Addams, selection from non-fiction memoir Twenty Years at Hull House, "Earliest Impressions"

DESCRIPTION/ITINERARY
It’s a crossroad, a place of rough politics and a “can do” people. It’s a town that loves its winners. WWI hadn’t happened when “the ball team” last won The Series. It’s a broad-shouldered city that makes no small plans. Its river runs backwards and its buildings were the first to scrape the sky. Its people play in a 30 mile lakefront park, own the largest collection of impressionists, and serve up a pizza that dares you to finish. If the belly craves it, it’s cooking here. If your ears long for it, you’ll hear it here. It’s home for some 2.5 million and annually 36 million make it a vacation. It has a great story to tell and it tells it well. It’s a great read. It’s Chicago.

With all that “reading,” we will need a bit of nourishment. We’ll nourish our sore feet with a taste of Chicago’s celebrated cuisine. And we will nourish our souls with a visit to one of Chicago’s listening treasures, The Green Mill, for an evening of big band swing. Mr. Capone tipped a few at The Green Mill and this is the place where “Poetry Slams” got a start.

Our spring visit to the Windy City focuses on three of the city’s most exciting chapters: art, architecture, and literature.

Art
The Art Institute of Chicago has a superb collection of European and American 19th and early 20th Century paintings and sculptures. We will focus on some of Sean's favorites including: Edgar Degas, George Inness, Cecilia Beaux, John Singer Sargent, and Edward Hopper. There will also be an opportunity for people to nominate paintings for us to discuss as a group. Together we will read and discuss the art of Chicago.

Architecture
Chicago is an architectural Mecca. The works of Sullivan, Adler, Wright, Gerhy, Helmut Jahn, et al, fill our streets. We will tour the heart of the Loop—inside and out—with one of the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s first class guides. Together we will read and discuss the skyline of Chicago.

Literature
...and then the books. Bradbury, Algren, Bellow, Brooks, Chandler, Hansberry, Sandburg , Terkel. The list goes on. We will pull from this pool of authors to find the words that best reveal her story. Together we will read and discuss the books of Chicago.

Other highlights may include:

The Driehaus Museum
Chicago Cultural Center

Click here to view itinerary

ACCOMMODATION
Hilton Garden Hotel, Chicago

Leaders
Sean Forester, a classical painter, has led seminars for Classical Pursuits in Toronto and in Florence, Italy. He studied at St. John’s College and at Cambridge University as a Rotary scholar. Sean has an abiding interest in the relationship between literature and art. He looks forward to exploring this topic in Chicago.

David Schmitt, originally a small town boy, made his way to Chicago to earn his architecture degree, and he stayed because he loves it so damn much!

Gary Schoepfel resides in Chicago. He thinks Chicago is one of the best “playing” fields in North America. Classical Pursuits has taken Gary around the world reading, discussing, and traveling with many fine folks. He looks forward to your visit to his town.

Fees
USD $2195 per person based on double occupancy

Fee includes books, accommodation based on double occupancy, two meals a day, discussions, tours, excursions and admissions.