By Rick Kaempfer
LATE NIGHT RICK
N
o one in this town has been a part
of the Chicago media scene longer
than WGN-Radio’s (and The
Chicago Tribune’s) Rick Kogan. He was liter-
ally born into it. His parents, Herman and
Marilew, were both fixtures in the heyday
of Chicago’s print media. They lived the
life. They hung out with Chicago’s glit-
terati. Rick’s first name is even a tribute to
that nightlife.
“My parents met in 1948 at Riccardo’s,
the legendary restaurant/bar at Rush and
Hubbard. They became close friends with
owner Ric Riccardo and when I was born
honored him by naming me, Rick. When I
was old enough to realize this, I asked my
mother why she had added the 'k' to the
name. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘we
didn’t want to be totally
unconventional.’”
When you grow up in a
home like that, it’s also nat-
ural that you become a bit
of night-life person your-
self, which is why it was so
odd that Rick hosted a
morning radio show on
WGN for so many years.
“I hosted the The Sunday
Papers with Rick Kogan from
6:30-9 a.m. on Sundays for
about a dozen years until
leaving WGN for a few
months to host the Daily
Afternoon Shift on WBEZ. I
liked that quite a bit, but it
was tough juggling the
show with my fulltime Tribune job, espe-
cially after a book project popped up.
When I left WBEZ, the WGN folks kindly
asked me to return and, having spent too
many years waking up at 5 a.m. on
Sundays, and thus curtailing any Saturday
night fun, I pitched the notion of an
evening show. They liked that, and so was
After Hours with Rick Kogan born.”
In some ways, he now broadcasts in his
natural habitat (late night), but there has
been a significant change over the last few
years. Of all the people who worked at the
Tribune and WGN, very few had the kind
of ties to that building, the Tribune Tower,
Rick did. Now that the Tribune and WGN
are in separate buildings -- and owned by
different companies -- I wondered if that
transition was strange for him.
“Not so strange in this wild media
world in which we live,” he says. “I am just
pleased that both operations remain alive
and kicking. Life goes on, but that Tribune
Tower will always house ghosts, and mine
are particularly vivid and personal since
my entire family — mother, father, and
younger brother — all worked there at one
time. And I, of course, have 30 years of my
memories.”
What does he think about the new
WGN Radio studios?
“Snazzy joint, without a doubt. I have
been there during the daylight, and the
views are terrific, but I actually prefer the
darkness with lights twinkling all around,
giving the city a sense of attractive mys-
tery.”
Rick’s show on WGN has long been the
go-to location for Chicago’s writers and
authors. There are very few shows that are
as kind, as encouraging, or as nurturing.
He does something that very few radio
16 illinoisentertainer.com june 2019
hosts do – he actually reads the book.
“Perhaps because I have written more
than a dozen books,” Rick explains, “I am
profoundly aware of how difficult it is to
write a book and, in this increasingly nutty
publishing environment, get it between
covers. I respect writers and the work and
so its only fair that I read what they have to
say. I do not ever want to be among those
hosts who begin their interviews with
authors by asking, ‘So, what is your book
about?’”
Of course, the flipside of that equation
is that Rick is continuously inundated with
guest offers and blurb requests. It can’t be
easy to try to accommodate everyone. His
office must contain an extensive library of
Rick Kogan
books. “I tend to focus on local authors and
Chicago-centric subjects. Yes, a lot of books
come my way, but reading is far from the
toughest job in the world. It is a joy that
enriches me.”
Can you tell that Rick is really a writer
at heart? He may have done radio for more
than three decades, and hosted and
appeared on countless television shows,
but when push comes to shove for Rick
Kogan, the pen is still stronger than the
microphone. Rick’s Mt. Rushmore of
Chicago media consists mainly of
Chicago’s great writers. He has no problem
naming the top four. “My father Herman
Kogan, Mike Royko, Studs Terkel and
Gwendolyn Brooks.” Those remain his
gold standard.
Of course, after his incredible career,
Rick is now himself a Chicago media insti-
tution. He is the closest thing we have in
this town to being “Mr. Chicago.” In some
ways, Rick has even eclipsed the legacy of
his dad. A lot of younger Chicagoans don’t
remember Herman or even the Daily News
that he wrote for so many years, but every-
one knows Rick. He is no longer in his
father’s shadow. Unsurprisingly, the hum-
ble Kogan doesn’t see it that way himself.
“I have never wanted to shake his shad-
ow or my memories of him and the invalu-
able lessons he quietly taught me about
life,” he insists.
Now that Rick has done it all, is there
anything still out there that he would like
to do before he retires? It seems like he has
done it all.
“There is always something exciting
about the next story, the next guest, so I
carry on with hope.”
Rick’s show airs Sunday nights on
WGN Radio.