Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Mike Royko was born on September 19, 1932 in Chicago, the city in which he lived most of his life, and it was as a distinctively Chicagoan journalist that he earned nationwide fame. Royko's journalism awards included the Ernie Pyle Memorial Award, the Heywood Broun Award, the H.L. Mencken Award, the National Headliner award, and the Pulitzer Prize for commentary; however, his readers did not need any award committees to tell them that Royko was a great journalist.

Royko had a sporadic formal education, dropping in and out of school. But he received another form of education by working for his father Michael, a tavern owner, at a young age, and by holding several other jobs. The last degree he earned came when he graduated from Central YMCA High School. Royko then joined the Air Force and was stationed near Seoul, South...