Longtime Chicago gossip columnist Ann Gerber, who dished juicy dirt for the Chicago Sun-Times and other local newspapers for more than 65 years, has died.
Ron Roenigk, the publisher at Inside Publications, Ms. Gerber’s last employer, told columnist Robert Feder she died Tuesday at her home.
Roenigk said Ms. Gerber was in her 90s, and there were conflicting reports of her exact age.
At the time of her arrival at the Sun-Times in 1987, she already had been writing at the Lerner Newspapers for decades. Ms. Gerber started at the neighborhood newspaper chain while in high school.
Sun-Times celebrity columnist Bill Zwecker, who replaced Gerber at Lerner after she left to join the Sun-Times in 1987, speaks of her as a legend.
“Ann was Chicago’s version of New York’s Aileen Mehle [who wrote as “Suzy,”] Liz Smith and Cindy Adams — all combined in one petite, but oh-so-mighty observer and commentator on our town’s social scene for more than seven decades,” Zwecker said.
“The word “legend” is often over-used, but when it came to Chicago’s charity world, Ann was the universal go-to columnist. Never hesitant to share her opinions — often framed by her sharp wit — she packed the most punch with her generous coverage of the city and suburb’s worthy causes. I’d have to say the one word that best described Ann and her work ethic was ‘tenacious.’ ”
Her Sun-Times tenure ended abruptly in 1989 when she wrote a blind item hinting that Stedman Graham was cheating on Oprah Winfrey, then took it back days later.
“The morning that I [wrote] it, Bob Collins, on his [WGN] radio show, said it,” Gerber told the Sun-Times in 2010, after the incident was recounted in a Kitty Kelley book about Winfrey. “But I had heard it and the rumor had been around for six months or a year. And once it was on the radio I thought, why don’t I run a blind item? It seemed harmless to me.”
She returned to the Lerner papers after leaving the Sun-Times.
Former state Sen. Bill Marovitz, whose charitable and civic causes revolve around helping the city’s youth, remembered Gerber’s dedication to the communities and people she wrote about.
“Ann was one of the most involved columnists and journalists that I have ever known in my life,” Marovitz said Tuesday. “She cared about people and charity. It was always wonderful seeing her at charity events with a smile on her face. We had a wonderful relationship. I will miss her.”
Author Sherrill Bodine, who spent time with Gerber in the hospital leading up to her death Tuesday, said she would like to refer to Gerber as a mentor, but she knows she would have hated that.
“We were more like kindred spirits,” a teary-eyed Bodine said by phone Tuesday night. “She was the bravest woman I have ever met and was very special to me. I dedicated one of my books to her.”
Although their writing styles differed, Bodine and Gerber shared a common curiosity and love of writing.
“She did her job with a sharp pen and a very quick wit,” Bodine explained. “Ann had such a great heart and was one of my favorite people in Chicago and the world. The city was lucky to have her writing.”
