Richard Lindberg, Class of 1971

Richard Lindberg pays tribute to the encouragement of many of his Taft teachers for giving him the confidence to go to college and pursue a career as a writer.

He wrote for Lerner Newspapers for a few years while working on his bachelor’s degree at Northeastern Illinois University. He worked for Sears Roebuck for 13 years as assistant manager of the Customer Convenience Center in Chicago. Other jobs included senior scriptwriter for Montgomery Ward & Company’s Signature Group, as a senior editor and head writer for Crime Books, Inc., managing editor of the Illinois Police & Sheriff s News, and his current position as marketing director, research investigator and publicist for Search International, Inc., a worldwide investigation agency.

His by-line has appeared on articles in “Chicago History,” “The Chicago Tribune Magazine,” “Inside Chicago Magazine,” “The Reader," "Screen Magazine,” the “USA Today Magazine” and others.

Richard turned his avid interest in sports and the Chicago White Sox into a frequent writing assignment: “Stuck on the Sox” (1978), “Who’s on Third? The Chicago White Sox Story” (1983), “The Macmillan White Sox Encyclopedia” (1984), “Stealing First in a Two-Team Town” (1994), “The Armchair Companion to Chicago Sports” and “The White Sox Encyclopedia" (both in 1997). Since 1985 he has been the official White Sox team historian. He served as a consultant for the film, “Eight Men Out” in 1988.

Richard earned his master’s degree in history in 1987 from Northeastern Illinois University. His graduate thesis was published as “To Serve and Collect: Chicago Politics and Police Corruption From the Lager Beer Riot to the Summerdale Scandal.” Among other major books are “Chicago Ragtime” (1985), also released as “Chicago by Gaslight,” “Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago" (1999), and several editions of "Ethnic Chicago.” He edited a six-volume "Encyclopedia of World Crime” in 1990.

Richard is in demand as a speaker on sports and history topics. He is the current president of the Society of Midland Authors, and a member of the Chicago Crime Commission, the Illinois Academy of Criminology, the Chicago Press Veterans and the City Club of Chicago.

He and his wife, Denise, recently moved back to Norwood Park, to the home where he grew up. He continues to write, working on a personal memoir about his family.