In last Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times, books editor Henry Kisor announced his retirement after 33 years in the job (Cheryl Reed arrives from the paper’s city desk to replace him.) Now theater critic Hedy Weiss offers up her own tribute of one man who cared (and still cares) passionately about books, the industry and its future. And as she puts it, “ehen he leaves the building — and heads off into that great field of dreams known as retirement — he will carry away with him a great deal of history and authority, as well as a lifetime of achievement and wild adventure.”
Kisor wasn’t just a critic; he wrote several books himself, including, most recently, two mystery novels featuring Deputy Sheriff Stephen Martinez. Another novel is in the works, but likely won’t be out till 2008.