Longtime Downstate Illinois author and reporter Taylor Pensoneau has a new book out, Reporting on Life—and People Along the Way (softcover, 355 pages, $18.95, Downstate Publications). Here’s a Q&A with him about his new book.
Q. You spent 12 years as the Illinois political correspondent of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the 1960s and 1970s. What were the highlights during those years?
A. Coverage of Illinois politics was a terrific beat. Chronicling heated electoral contests, society upheavals through the civil rights and antiwar movements, the Illinois General Assembly, the first Mayor Daley and five national political conventions, especially the raucous 1968 Democratic one in Chicago, were coverage highlights that assured me of countless front-page stories.
Q. Who are the main characters in your new book?
A. The book traces the lives, along with my own, of persons close to me who have achieved success in life. I love Horatio Alger stories, and there are a number of them in the book. One is about Edward Pound, a poor kid from St. Louis, who — while never graduating from college — went on to become a premier investigative reporter, first in Springfield, then Chicago, and, finally, in Washington. After breaking disclosures with me in Springfield, Ed went on with the Sun-Times in Chicago to spur the downfall of a number of Democratic Machine stalwarts, including Tom Keane and Matt Danaher. Subsequently, he has figured prominently in umpteen scandalous disclosures involving the high and mighty in Washington.
Another featured in the book is Mike Lawrence, who went from the Illinois Capitol pressroom to become eventually the top aide to Jim Edgar. When Edgar was governor, the late Sun-Times political columnist Steve Neal labeled Lawrence the “shadow governor” of Illinois.
Q. Some people tend to look back at the ’60s and ’70s as an era when Illinois legislators worked together better than they do today. Is that accurate?
A. It probably is true. Major issues facing the state, such as financial challenges, were dealt with then—and done so in a bipartisan fashion. This in no way does not mean there wasn’t plenty of political polemics, backbiting and undercutting back then. But, in the end, ideological and personality conflicts often were set aside for the so-called common good. This is no longer the case in the current General Assembly. Extreme polarization between the parties has produced a treading water atmosphere in which compromise has become nearly impossible.
Q. You’ve written biographies of former governors Dan Walker and Richard Ogilvie and former Illinois Senate leader W. Russell Arrington. How did they compare with the top Illinois political leaders of today?
A. First off, I think leaders like Ogilvie, Arrington and Walker were considered more dynamic in the public eye than their current counterparts. They were real newsmakers and two of them, Arrington and Walker, had feisty personalities that made for great journalistic copy. State government was more respected in their era. Today’s Illinois government leaders, for the most part, seem to wallow in a swampy quagmire of indecision that commands little respect and, indeed, has given our state a dubious reputation on the national level. Having said that, though, I do credit Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan with organizational prowess on the legislative scene not witnessed since the days of Arrington, a Republican highly admired by Democrat Madigan.
Q. We have to ask: Where did the $800,000 in Secretary of State Paul Powell’s shoe boxes come from?
A. There remains no one concrete answer. The sources of the cash hoard were probably numerous. For one thing, Powell was tight as a drum, living as a major officeholder on taxpayer’s dollars in almost every aspect of his lifestyle. He not very subtly collected for a “flower fund” or imposed a lug on many of his thousands of employees since the office was a major reservoir of patronage workers. For years, lobbyists and others stuffed cash in his pocket in order that Powell, a master of the legislative process in his many years in the Illinois House, handle their issues. Remember, there was no bigger protector of horse racing interests than Powell. And then, of course, suspicions abounded that in his years as secretary of state he was not immune from appreciative gestures from trucking lines regulated by his office in licensing and related functions. In sum, all of these matters had to be taken into account in contemplating the $800,000 cache.
