74° and Sunny

Next weekend is forecast to be warm and sunny, with a chance to get your beach reading and gift shopping done in one pleasurable outing, bargains likely.

On Saturday, June 3rd and Sunday, June 4th, Lake Claremont Press will be at the Printers Row Book Fair—the Midwest's largest free outdoor literary event—selling our unique brand of Chicago histories and guidebooks at discounted prices. We'll be in the southern section of the fair (near where we've been for twelve years) at booth CC1, just north of Polk on Dearborn (click here for a map of the fair).

Lake Claremont Press authors will be signing their books and talking about all things Chicago at our booth, so check below for a schedule of appearances by your favorite local authors.

Saturday, June 3

10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.: Charles Billington, author of Wrigley Field's Last World Series: The Wartime Chicago Cubs and the Pennant of 1945

10:00 a.m.–12 noon: Ted Okuda, co-author of The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television

10:00 a.m–12 noon: Joseph Schwieterman, co-author of The Politics of Place: A History of Zoning in Chicago

12 noon–2:00 p.m.: Arnie Bernstein, author of Hollywood on Lake Michigan and The Hoofs and Guns of the Storm: Chicago's Civil War Connections

12 noon–2:00 p.m.: Libby Hill, author of The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History

2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.: Kathie Bergquist, co-author of the forthcoming Lake Claremont Press book A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago

2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.: Robert McDonald, co-author of the forthcoming Lake Claremont Press book A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago

4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.: Christopher Lynch, author of Chicago's Midway Airport

Sunday, June 4

10:00 a.m.–12 noon: Dana Caspall, co-author of The Politics of Place: A History of Zoning in Chicago

10:00 a.m.–12 noon: Carolyn Eastwood, author of Near West Side Stories: Struggles for Community in Chicago's Maxwell Street Neighborhood

12 noon–2:00 p.m.: Ursula Bielski, author of Chicago Haunts, More Chicago Haunts, Creepy Chicago, and Graveyards of Chicago

12 noon–2:00 p.m.: Dennis Foley, author of The Streets & San Man's Guide to Chicago Eats

2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.: Jack Mulqueen, co-author of The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television

Also, Rick Kogan, author of the forthcoming Lake Claremont Press title A Chicago Tavern: a Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream, will be stopping by our booth to chat with visitors.

Along the Calumet

To learn more about another important river and watershed important to Chicagoland's development, read historian Cynthia Ogorek's Along the Calumet River. Find an online review and interview with the author at Reader Views "by readers, for readers" book review site.

Creepy Hugs

Was the embrace too long for your liking? Was the friendly squeeze too tender? Are the right places being felt? Is the feeling just wrong altogether? You never saw it coming, did you? The team that brought you Your Favorite Kid is Ugly presents a sketchy comedy revue that explores those moments of social awkwardness that shoot shivers down your spine, like Creepy Hug #39: “The Feeling Is Not Mutual.”

Brothers Dan and David Facchini (Muldoon: A True Chicago Ghost Story) and friends are back at Second City's Donny's Skybox theater on the 4th Floor of Piper's Alley,1608 N. Wells, with their new production, Creepy Hug.

• When: Fridays at 11:59 p.m., May 19-June 9
• Tickets: Tickets are $8; $5 for students; $4 TC students
• Phone: 312/337-3992
• Starring: Meryl Bush, Adam Grenier, John Mahr, Heather Lynn Muth, Evan O’Donnell, and Rose Ryan
• Directed by: David Rocco Facchini
• Written and produced by: Dan Facchini, Matt Noonan and Greg Wendling

It's About Time: Fat Tire in Chicago

Though Fat Tire Amber Ale hit the Chicago market for the first time this winter, only as the weather warms for summertime can Chicagoans truly appreciate this beer's long overdue arrival in the Windy City.

If you have not yet sampled New Belgium Brewing Company's most popular beer, stop by Binny's or Sam's or even Whole Foods and Jewel to pick up a bomber for outdoor BYOB dining or your next bbq. The labels on the first bottling read Spring 2006 Chicago Inaugural: The 1st Fat Tire Ale served (legally) in the Second City. The (legally) comment is either a nod to the transplants who have smuggled Fat Tire back to Chicago after visits west of the Mississippi or, more likely, a reference to Bricks Pizza where Fat Tire has been clandestinely served to those in the know for quite some time. Bricks remains the only place selling Fat Tire in 12-ounce bottles as the Chicago Inaugural sold elsewhere is only in the 22-ounce bottle. Perhaps Bricks will stay ahead of the curve and be the first to sell it on tap (hint, hint).

Fat Tire is now reportedly available in 150 Chicago outlets. I've noticed window signs advertising Fat Tire's availability in several drinking establishments, so odds are you'll be able to find it in your neighborhood.