This Used to Be Chicago

Joni Hirsch Blackman has been a wire service writer, newspaper reporter, copy editor, magazine stringer, newspaper and magazine columnist. She has written three books ... and was the editor of her high school yearbook. When not writing, she shows off the breathtaking Chicago River to tourists as a volunteer for the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The third generation of her family to be born in a Chicago hospital, Joni grew up exploring the bustling city by walking as fast as she could to keep pace with her grandmother. Those memorable outings inspired her to research the stories behind the buildings that make up the city she was born to love.