Born in Buffalo New York, Pete Nolan hit Chicago at its cataclysmic peak. It was 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King had just been assassinated, then Bobby Kennedy, and then that summer Chicago hosted the ’68 Democratic Convention.
“Hosted it” with Billy clubs and brass knuckles. It was an epic time for a young news reporter and Peter Nolan was there to cover it all.
He had moved his wife Karen and six kids to Glencoe and started his broadcast journalism career at WMAQ-TV (NBC) and WBBM-TV( CBS),winning three Emmys and scads of other awards over the years, including Chicago Magazine’s “Best TV Reporter."
Pete was Chicago’s man on the street guy, covering local politics as well as murder mysteries, mayhem, and commentaries. He wryly told me “You ain’t a news guy til you’ve spent midnights on a smoldering mattress fire somewhere in the ghetto.”
For three decades he soaked in the lore of Chicago politics, becoming a favorite of late Mayor Richard J. Daley, who responded best to Nolan’s “soft sell” as opposed to heckling magpies who shoved their mics in his face.
Along the way he learned the lingo of back alleys and smoke-filled rooms, the fakers and the faithful few; and began chronicling the exploits of first female mayor Jane Bryne, and then first black mayor Harold Washington.
He recently wrote a terrific book "CAMPAIGN" about Washington’s ascent to power in Chicago, as well as "NEWS STORIES," literate snapshots of his amazing career in the news biz.
We met in the mid-eighties. Pete had written a very funny TV comedy that premiered on NBC about Chicago politics, "THE 51ST WARD." He was a friend of my late brother Danny, a former state legislator and political renegade himself, who introduced me to Nolan. In his play Nolan created a mythical ward and cast of characters working to get their doofus Alderman elected.
I moved home to Chicago in ‘85 from NYC where I was a starving theatrical producer, got myself a political job and talked Pete into putting his play on stage as we embarked on adventures as playwright pals and lifelong friends. We eventually went into business together doing PR for Local 130 the Plumbers Union, (they put on Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade), for political campaigns and a million other schemes. I owe Pete Nolan big time for the many lessons he taught me, including my introduction into the wacky world of Chicago politics.
Pete knew all the gangsters and Damon Runyon type politicians of Chicago in the late eighties. We did a lot of carousing in them days; piano bars, fundraisers, press conferences for stars and stooges. Nolan was most at home with a glass and a song as he crooned across the piano bars of Chicago in the wee hours. He used to always joke with me about our schemes, “Whaddya gonna do with YOUR money?”
Pete taught me late, legendary leg man Marty O’Connor’s three commandments: “Only Suckers Beef," “Never Make Bail Under a Viaduct”, and “Nothin’s on the Square." Nolan also was a firm believer in, “Get the Money Up Front-everything else is nonsense!” - one of the many lessons I took to heart.
We hooked up eventually with Republican Lieutenant Governor George Ryan, who became Secretary of State and then Governor. Along the way we had too many adventures and I learned many political lessons, particularly the virtue of loyalty.
One of the best songs in THE 51ST WARD was “Loyalty,” written by Nolan and Tom Boyle and it became the underlying theme of our show.
Loyalty,
It’s sweepin’ things under the rug
Even if you have to do time in the jug.
Lookin’ the other way when you have to
And maybe voting twice when you’re asked to.
Loyalty
Among the song’s great lyrics, sung by the mythical Chicago politician, is when “a witness forgets it all at your trial.”
Eventually, our friend George Ryan became a victim of Illinois’ left leaning hierarchy, was indicted and did time. He is still in my estimation, one of the greatest governors of this state. It was no picnic. His wife died while he was in prison and the star witness against him was a former staffer who knew nothing of ‘Loyalty."
I owe many debts in my career but could never pay back Pete Nolan for his Chicago wisdom back in the day. For a glimpse into his genius I recommend his most recent books, “Campaign” and “News Stories”. Read them both to learn “the Chicago way."
