Kurt Chandler | Page 3

Kurt Chandler

Kurt Chandler began working at Milwaukee Magazine in 1998 as a senior editor, writing investigative articles, profiles, narratives and commentaries. He was editor in chief from August 2013-November 2015. An award-winning writer, Chandler has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, editor and author. He has been published in a number of metro newspapers and magazines, from The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Minneapolis Star Tribune, to Marie Claire, The Writer, and Salon.com. He also has authored, coauthored or edited 12 books. His writing awards are many: He has won the National Headliners Award for magazine writing five times. He has been named Writer of the Year by the City & Regional Magazine Association, and Journalist of the Year by the Milwaukee Press Club. As a staff writer with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and chosen as a finalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Award. In previous lives, Chandler worked construction, drove a cab and played the banjo (not necessarily at the same time). He has toiled as a writer and journalist for three decades now and, unmindful of his sage father’s advice, has nothing to fall back on. Yet he is not without a specialized set of skills: He can take notes in the dark and is pretty good with active verbs.


October 24, 2014News & Politics

“Meet the Press” meets Mary Burke

Chuck Todd talks with TMJ4’s Charles Benson in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. Photos by Kathryn Lavey.  NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd swung through Milwaukee Friday morning with a camera crew, stopping in the Third Ward to interview Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, before rolling on to Madison in a “Meet the Voters” tour bus. Todd is on a two-week assignment in the Midwest and South, interviewing voters and candidates for episodes of the Sunday morning talk show. After a short interview with Burke, he stopped to talk politics with Milwaukee Magazine, whose office is in the building where Todd…

October 9, 2014Editor's Letter

Endless Possibilities

Photos by Adam Ryan Morris It was a sunny Saturday in July, just another day in Milwaukee…  My son suggested kayaking on the Milwaukee River, so we started by visiting the Urban Ecology Center, where members can “borrow” for free as many kayaks (or canoes or bicycles or cross-country skis) as they want. We strapped two kayaks to the tops of our cars. Destination: Lincoln Park.  Along the way, we were pleasantly interrupted by a parade, a South Side celebration of a Puerto Rican holiday. We paused as floats of blue, white and red rolled toward National Avenue.  We drove…

September 17, 2014Editor's Letter

Informed Decisions

When I was growing up and my parents talked about getting old, my father would often make the preposterous claim that, when he died, he wanted to be buried in the backyard under the silver maples that he had planted as a young man. “Just put me in a wooden box and dig a big hole,” he would say. My mother would roll her eyes. She didn’t share her husband’s choice for final disposition. Yet both of them were adamant that they never be placed in a nursing home. “I’d rather live in the garage,” said my father, with complete…

August 7, 2014Editor's Letter

Bystanders

A recent report by the Pew Research Center caught my eye the other day. In a study of the Red versus Blue division in American politics, researchers sorted potential voters into eight groups, based on attitudes and values: Steadfast Conservatives, Business Conservatives, Solid Liberals, Hard-Pressed Skeptics, and so on. The final category was Bystanders, individuals who are not registered to vote and couldn’t care less about politics. The Bystanders represent 10 percent of the public. Coincidentally, a few days after reading the Pew report, I received a couple of emails from subscribers who said they were quitting the magazine because…

July 1, 2014Magazine Point of View

Q&A: Frank Gimbel

In his 50-year career, attorney Frank Gimbel has prosecuted the mafia and overseen the city’s arenas and convention center. He’s used to the hot seat. There are a lot of big plans on the drawing board for Downtown Milwaukee. One is to expand the convention center north to Kilbourn Avenue. Why? We’ve fallen behind. Our number of events and attendance has gone down because our peer competitors have changed their practical profile. The meeting planners are looking for more exhibit space. Columbus, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, those are cities we compete with. Indianapolis has gotten to be almost like Chicago…

March 4, 2014Magazine Perspective

The Piano Lesson

Photo by Adam Ryan Morris My wife and I were living in Boulder, Colo., when one day, our neighbor told us she and her boyfriend were splitting up. “Charlie’s moving out,” she said. “We’re selling the piano, if you’re interested.” I’d been strumming a guitar for a few years, and I thought I’d give the piano a try. So, with money I had gotten from a student grant, we gave the neighbors $300 and dragged the upright into our living room. The wood grain shined like amber; the octaves rang clear and precise. The Piano Album We moved that piano…

January 22, 2014Editor's Letter

Abandoned Dreams

Photo by Adam Ryan Morris From 2000 to 2010, the number of vacant houses in the United States increased by 4.5 million. That’s an astounding figure. Today, in the city of Milwaukee, an estimated 5,000 houses sit vacant and abandoned, the vast majority in impoverished neighborhoods. Other cities fare far worse: Cleveland, 15,000 vacant houses. Philadelphia, 40,000. And Detroit, as many as 70,000. As our January cover story points out, the problem is an outgrowth of the housing crisis. The 2008 recession pushed jobless rates higher and higher, causing record numbers of foreclosures. As homeowners were forced to vacate, houses…

January 8, 2014Magazine Perspective

Laura Gordon

Photo by Sara Stathas You’ve just finished acting in Noises Off at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. You’re directing at Renaissance Theaterworks this year, and in Madison, Las Vegas and Utah. You spend a lot of time with actors. Do they drive you crazy sometimes? Actors have egos. They also have vulnerabilities. And to put yourself out there in front of people and reveal something can make you quite vulnerable. Actors deal with that vulnerability sometimes by putting on a big veneer, a big defensive quality. There are some people who can take up a lot of psychological space in a…

December 2, 2013Feature Story

Julie Helmrich

Ladies and gentlemen, direct your attention to the lovely and learned woman before you. No huckster or quack is she. No ma’am. She holds three degrees in psychology and runs a private counseling service. Tonight, here in our restaurant, she will cure your phobias, relieve you of your guilt, and free you of your sadness. All for the price of a New York strip and a cocktail. Give it up for the host of “Shrink ‘n’ Drink,” Julie Helmrich! Clinical psychologist Julie Helmrich greets a large group of diners. Microphone in hand, she reads her first question from a thick…