'Patent Leather Shoes' Novelist, Mount Greenwood Native Dies at 67

John R. Powers grew up in Mount Greenwood and gained famed as the author of "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?"

  He was a local boy who took his childhood memories of the South Side and spun them into hysterical tales that chronicled the shared experiences of a Catholic education.  John R. Powers died Jan. 17 at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. at the age of 67.  Powers grew up in Mount Greenwood and attended Brother Rice High School. He gained fame as a satirist whose 1975 novel "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" poked fun at his strict Catholic schooling.  The book was later turned into a musical that made its way to Broadway in 1982. However, the musical found its real success in local and community productions where it became a must-see show for every former Catholic school kid.  "On the day he died he just finished a new one-man …

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SouthScene

McGuinn, Yarrow and Stookey, Artists, Authors, IPO, Improv Take Southland on Eclectic Rides

Authors Royko in Orland Park, Renje in Tinley Park and Berry in Evergreen Park reveal compelling fact and fiction in their novels at free library events.

Legendary 1960s rock icon, original member of the Byrds and native Chicagoan Roger McGuinn returns to Beverly Arts Center for what promises to be a great evening of song and talk. No doubt, McGuinn will, as in the past, sing classic Byrds favorites including “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” An extraordinary guitarist, count on McGuinn for some show-and-tell about his self-designed seven-string guitar, famous for the opening chords in the two songs mentioned above and for sounds few guitarists can create on standard instruments.  With his still classic voice that could melt icicles, McGuinn, approaching 70, remains the consummate entertainer. When: 8 p.m., June 3 Where: Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., Chicago (southwest …

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