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On the fiftieth anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death

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Grave with flowers growing and placed on it with some other items. Inscription reads, below a simple cross, crux quadrata: “Edith Mary Tolkien Luthien 1889 - 1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Beren 1892 - 1973”

☩ Edith Mary Tolkien Luthien 1889 – 1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Beren 1892 – 1973 On my last visit to Oxford, England, in March of last year, I finally took the long walk out Banbury Road to Wolvercote Cemetery to see the final resting place of J.R.R. Tolkien, who died at age 81 on … Read more

Why “Chicagoland”

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WBEZ’s Curious City looks into “Chicagoland,” the term, its origins, purpose, and definition—its boundaries. Chicago Tribune publisher Robert R. “Colonel” McCormick commissioned James O’Donnell Bennett to write a series of Chicago region travel articles. That’s how the word made its first appearance nearly 100 years ago in the July 27, 1926 edition of the Chicago Tribune. … Read more