I took a sort of "literary landmarks" tour yesterday, riding in an actual school bus with some other literary-minded folks. The trip began with an impromptu celebrity sighting as Studs Terkel, still spry at 90+, sprinted past us on his way to hail a cab. (We offered him a ride, but he waved us off, looking justifiably apprehensive.)

The tour ranged from the Northwest side to Humboldt Park and Hyde Park and finally wound its way downtown. Unfortunately, almost all of the houses were not on my side of the bus, so the photo quality is decidedly mixed. Even more unfortunately, many of the places the literary types lived or hung out in are now gone, so we found ourselves looking at more than a few parking lots.

Here are a few worth noting. This book is also reportedly a good source of similar information--probably better researched, albeit without that zany B&W spin.

Carl Sandburg apparently lived here, near Hermitage and Leland on the North Side.

I always imagine Nelson Algren living in dive-y sorts of places, but this brick house in Wicker Park is nice indeed.

Writer and screenwriter Ben Hecht's house in Hyde Park looks oddly shiny and candylike from here.

Meanwhile, back on the Gold Coast, Poetry magazine founder Harriet Monroe had a lovely home. Hmm, now that the magazine has been bequeathed $100 million, they could buy this building.