David McGrath

4 days ago | captimes.com | David McGrath

I never understood how anyone could fall for an email scam from a Nigerian. Or a threatening phone call from a fake IRS agent. Until that Friday night when a stranger named Clyde rang my doorbell. The sun was just going down, and before saying a word, he smiled hopefully while pointing to the walkway beneath my feet. “You want that fixed?” he said. The concrete walkway leading to our front door had a wide crack and was buckled from years of snow, ice and thaw.

6 days ago | chicagotribune.com | David McGrath

I recently bought a round-trip airline ticket, just like millions of other Americans traveling to Florida for spring break or Easter vacation. Except that mine was in the opposite direction, from Florida to Chicago, for the funeral of my sister Rosie. The Airbus was cramped, but a 40-something couple stepped into the aisle to let me into my window seat. The 1,200-mile journey, lasting three hours, was longer than usual because of a 100 mph headwind.

2 weeks ago | captimes.com | David McGrath

The first time I saw African Americans in person, our father was taking the family to the beach in Whiting, Indiana, a half-hour drive from our home in Evergreen Park, Illinois, nicknamed by some locals at the time as “Everwhite” Park. Two boys, around the same age as I, were walking down the sidewalk along Indianapolis Boulevard, leading their dog on a rope.

3 weeks ago | naplesnews.com | David McGrath

Even though most figures we honor during Women’s History Month are famous like Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks, my big sister, Rosemary Teutsch, may also qualify. “Rosie” was the first feminist I ever knew, if feminism meant sticking up for liberties unfairly denied to women. She grew up in a home with seven men, counting Dad. Nancy would come along eight years later, but Rosie had to carve her own way long before that. Her six brothers made no allowances for her being a girl.

3 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | David McGrath

Even though most figures we honor during Women’s History Month are famous like Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks, my big sister, Rosemary Teutsch, may also qualify. “Rosie” was the first feminist I ever knew, if feminism meant sticking up for liberties unfairly denied to women. She grew up in our Evergreen Park home with seven men, counting Dad. Nancy would come along eight years later, but Rosie had to carve her own way long before that. Her six brothers made no allowances for her being a girl.