This distinctive collection features writings from Grant Pick's long, distinguished career in literary journalism. Most of his stories focus on interesting but overlooked Chicagoans, like the struggling owner of a Laundromat on the West Side or the successful doctor who, as he faced his own death, strove to enlighten his colleagues in the field of medicine. As only a lifetime Chicagoan could, he described in tender detail the worlds in which people lived or worked, providing a look not just at one city's citizens but at humanity as a whole. Grant Pick (1947-2005) was a freelance writer whose work appeared most frequently in the ""Chicago Reader"". He also wrote for the ""Chicago Tribune Magazine"", the ""Chicago Sun-Times"", ""Crain's Chicago Business"", and ""Catalyst"" until his sudden death.