Tony BoweEditor’s Note: As an empty nester living in a cul-de-sac of eight houses in Northbrook, IL, I was hard at work minding my own business Saturday morning. I was reading the newspaper on my living room sofa when Cathy answered a knock on our front door. When her short conversation finished, I asked her who it was. She said the Governor was nearby and would be knocking on our door shortly. She explained she would miss him because she was headed upstairs to shower. Needless to say, I thought she was pulling my leg. Of all his other options in life, why would Gov. J.B. Pritzker single us out for a visit in a busy campaign season? And why would anyone get in the shower if the Governor was about to call on you? On the other hand, could she possibly be telling the truth about blowing off an unexpected visit of the Governor to our home? When I next looked out our living room window, there was the Governor having his picture taken with our neighbors, Daniel, Mara, Evan, Sydney and Aliza Schack. The scene shocked me into reality. I would shortly have to face him alone at the front door without spousal support. Important questions raced through my mind. I was sure he’d been tramping around a lot of downstate farms while campaigning recently. If I invited him in, would it be too much to ask him to take his shoes off? Should I tell him my lovely wife couldn’t say hello because she was upstairs naked? In short order the Governor appeared. While I didn’t invite him in (what with a naked wife upstairs and all), we did have a nice five-minute chat at the front door about the election. When I told him, « My prediction is that you’ll win, » he quickly responded, « From your mouth to God’s ears. » And with that, J.B. and his entourage ambled out of the cul-de-sac.ditor’s Note: In a March 14, 2022 interview Tony and I discussed what kind of content might later be added to the www.wbowe.com website. Dans ce clip, Tony interroge Bill sur la carrière de son frère Dick, qui travaillait pour la ville de Chicago. Dans sa réponse, Bill discute du rapport que son frère a fait alors qu’il observait la violence associée à la manifestation Days of Rage organisée à Chicago en août 1968 par les Students for a Democratic Society. Cette violence du SDS a précédé les manifestations anti-guerre plus larges qui ont eu lieu peu après, alors que la Convention nationale démocrate avançait. Les premières émeutes du SDS ont contribué à préparer le terrain pour la violence et l’attention médiatique mondiale qui ont suivi à Chicago avec la Convention.

1968 Days of Rage Report of Richard Bowe