The North Shore Weekend, April 29th, 2023

Julia Fine

Photography by Michael Zajakowski

8 starry night

Family Service of Glencoe will host its “Glencoe Under the Stars" fundraiser next month

9 best in class

Lake Forest Country Day School hosts elite boarding schools from around the country in a spring event

LIFESTYLE & ARTS

12 to catch a killer

A serial killer is on the loose in Baltimore in this ambitious action-thriller

12 chevalier

This opulent film is based on a true life story of a Black composer before the French Revolution

14 north shore foodie

With fresh fennel, farro, and mushrooms, this delicious dish is perfect for spring

16 #hashtag

Winnetka resident and Willow House supporter Kim Melancon shares what's trending in her life

17 material pursuits

From Steve McQueen's Ferrari to the elegance of Louis Vuitton, your weekend must-haves await

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

18 sunday breakfast

Leslie Goddard ignites interest in history via her educational and entertaining portrayals of famous women

John Conatser FOUNDER &

PUBLISHER

ADVERTISING @NSWEEKEND.COM

Jennifer Sturgeon

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Michelle Crowe, Dustin O'Regan, Kemmie Ryan, Sherry Thomas, Megan Weisberg

FASHION EDITOR

Theresa DeMaria

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Mitch Hurst, Bill McLean

DESIGN

Linda Lewis PRODUCTION MANAGER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Chris Geimer ADVERTISING COORDINATOR/GRAPHIC DESIGNER

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART

Monica Kass Rogers

PHOTOGRAPHY

Tom Bachtell, Barry Blitt

ILLUSTRATION

Cheyanne Lencioni ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

STARRY NIGHT

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

The mission of Family Service of Glencoe (FSG) is as important as ever. Many health care professionals believe we’re experiencing a collective mental health crisis—an epidemic, even—and for more than 100 years FSG has been there to tend to the mental and emotional health needs of residents of Glencoe and beyond.

“Our mission is to promote a stronger community by meeting individual and family needs. We do that through services that identify, prevent, and resolve social emotional problems,” says Amber Bond, FSG’s executive director. “We have a variety of services that we provide, and we're rooted in the village of Glencoe and serve the surrounding community as well.”

FSG provides high quality, comprehensive mental health and social service work to anyone who needs it, Bond says, and the organization has made concerted efforts to make its services affordable.

“Our biggest single piece of work is our clinical outpatient, clinical mental health counseling, and we take a wide variety of insurances to make it as accessible as possible,” says Bond. “We have a sliding fee that is offered to residents of the township, and anyone impacted by the Fourth of July shooting.”

Bond says there's a perception of wealth on the North Shore, and while that perception is accurate, there are also those who are experiencing food insecurity, housing insecurity, are uninsured or under-insured, and are very low income. It's not something that people stand up and shout about when they're experiencing difficult times.

“It's important that FSG be ready to serve people who have lots of means and people who don't,” she says. “We want to be perceived as a service for the whole community, not just the haves or the have nots. We want to serve everyone. And we do.”

FSG was founded in Glencoe and its board members are all Glencoe residents or business owners. The organization maintains strong relationships with the community leadership in Glencoe, the Park District, School District Library, Public Safety, and the village manager. But its mission is broader than just Glencoe.

“Communities are permeable. Residents of Glencoe are patrons of businesses in Highland Park. Highland Park residents are teachers at the schools in Glencoe,” she says. “Many of our seniors struggle to stay in Glencoe when they're done raising their families and end up moving into surrounding communities but maintain deep ties to the village of Glencoe.”

Over the 100 plus-years FSG has been in

service, it has developed a service area that has become much broader than just the village of Glencoe, so its service footprint has grown.

“We have people coming to us from the city, we have folks coming to us from the far north, actually from Southern Wisconsin,” Bond says. “We have a few clients because they have some kind of tie either to the specific service that we offer or they have family, friends, a history, or maybe a workplace that is in our community.”

This expansion over the years is why the upcoming “Glencoe Under the Stars” fundraiser continues to be a critical opportunity for FSG to meet the growing needs of the community, says Karen Rogatz, FSG’s Benefit Chairperson.

“It’s our annual spring event, our biggest benefit and the largest fundraising campaign for the year,” Rogatz explains. “We bring in approximately 25 percent of our operating budget and all those dollars go to bridge the gap between the full value of counseling sessions and the rates that we charge on a sliding scale.”

This year’s event will be held on the patio at Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park and will feature dinner, dancing, and music, It will be a cocktail-style party with appetizers and various food stations. There will also be a silent auction—items for which will be posted to the organization’s website two weeks prior to the event.

“This is how we get the funds to pay the therapists, which we're growing more and more, every month,” Rogatz says.

Bond says coming out of the pandemic was tough. The transition to telehealth had been hard. When she started her time at FSG in June 2021, there was one fulltime clinician, a couple of part timers, and Bond herself. Since then, FSG has added two more full-time positions. A third full-time therapist will be starting in May.

“The need is something that we have never seen before in the community. We are committed to not having a wait list,” Bond says. “Some of the bigger organizations out there have sixmonth waits or longer and want to keep ours to two to four weeks, tops. That means we need to continue to hire and the only way we're able to do that is through this kind of fundraising event that underwrites the cost of services.”

One key partnership FSG maintains is with the Village of Glencoe Public Safety Department. It’s an example how FSG’s relationships

with the village can benefit residents. When a call comes into the department that involves a mental health issue, FSG therapists can accompany the officer to the site of the disturbance.

“The partnership that we have with public safety is really nice and what drew me to be on the board, along with partnerships with other community members,” Fogartz adds.

“We have all gone through the collective trauma of the pandemic and then we're adding the local trauma to the North Shore from last year,” Bond says. “I think people are willing to say that they're struggling in a way that they might not have been willing to say before because everyone is struggling. We want people to reach out to support our friends and family members.”

Individual tickets for “Glencoe Under the Stars” are $250, $350 for VIP, and can be purchased at familyserviceofglencoe.org. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

Family Service of Glencoe will host its annual spring fundraiser, “Glencoe Under the Stars,” on May 20.

“Glencoe Under the Stars” raises nearly a quarter of the budget each year for Family Service of Glencoe.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Each fall, Lake Forest Country Day School (LFCDS) hosts an Independent Boarding School Fair where parents and students can learn more about offerings from across the country. Last year’s event featured more than 75 boarding schools from California to Maine.

This Wednesday, May 3, LFCDS is offering families the opportunity to meet with admissions staff from 10 top schools located on the East Coast with its “Explore Boarding School” event. The schools partner with the Ten Schools Admission Organization (TSAO), a more than 45-year-old group that works to, “effectively communicate with, inform, and meet the needs of students and families hoping to learn more about all that the nation’s top boarding schools have to offer.”

The 10 schools include Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT; Deerfield Academy

BEST IN CLASS

evolved over the years,” says Ted Stewart, Director of Student Programs and Engagement at LFCDS. “Historically, families would begin their high school search process in the fall of 8th grade, but recently, we have noticed that families are eager to start exploring high school options as early as 6th grade.”

As a result, Stewart says, boarding schools have begun to travel extensively in the springtime, both domestically and internationally, to build applicant pools for upcoming cycles.

After touring LFCDS, Brown was interested in collaborating on a smaller, more intimate spring event, unlike the larger boarding school fair each fall. The partnership came about with TSAO because many LFCDS graduates have matriculated to TSAO member schools.

“Hosting an event that introduces boarding school as a high school option to the North Shore community is incredibly valuable for middle school families,” says Stewart. “As we say during the secondary school placement process at LFCDS, it's our goal to find the right ‘fit’ for each of our 8th-grade students and educating families on different high school

institutions.”

For some schools, it can take eight to nine months to apply, Brown explains, so the spring event at LFCDS is an opportunity for parents with rising 8th graders to both learn about boarding school options and get a head start on their school search. But it’s not just for parents of 8th graders. There may be older students who can benefit from the boarding school experience.

“For families who have students who are in the upper grades and who might be thinking of wanting another year to build out their athletics, say they didn't get picked up by a college or a university and they want to use get use a year to get faster, stronger,” Brown says. “You can see what's out there. A postgraduate year is also helpful for us too. We know that in the (Chicago) area you've got awesome schools, but sometimes the postgraduate year at a boarding school will assist in giving them an extra year to just get themselves organized before they launch into the college process.”

Brown says for those student schools set aside special classes for them that are focused on more advanced analytical writing that they may see in their freshman seminar.

“If there are things that the college recommends that they take, then we try our best to get them in those upper-level classes,” she says. “Oftentimes what will happen is colleges may say, ‘I don't have enough room on my roster for you this year, but if you take a postgraduate year and go spend it at, you know, Lawrenceville or Deerfield or Choate, then you’ll be better prepared’.”

particularly when they are away. In addition to small class sizes and more personal attention from professors and administrators, one big advantage of boarding schools—many have significant percentages of international students—is that students are exposed not just to others from around the country but around the globe.

“This is the first time in their lives, and maybe the last time of their lives, where they'll be able to live next to and engage with students from all corners of the world and to listen to their stories, whether it's in the classroom or casually at night when they're watching movies or playing on sports teams, or even taking advantage of the local area,” Brown says. “We’ve got Princeton in our backyard, so you’re going to find an influx of culture because it’s so accessible.”

in Deerfield, MA; The Hill School in Pottstown, PA; The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT; The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ; The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT; Phillips Academy-Andover in Andover, MA; Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH; St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH; and The Taft School in Watertown, CT.

“The idea of the Ten Schools Admissions event at LFCDS began when Dana Brown (Director of Admission) from Lawrenceville visited LFCDS. We discussed the secondary school placement process and how it has

options is a win-win for everyone.”

Brown says her goal is to provide families with insight into some of the nation's top boarding schools and the things that they have to offer, whether it's more rigorous academics or opportunities to play sports at a more competitive level. It not only benefits Lawrenceville but the other partner schools within the organization.

“It's more of a collective voice that we use to amplify what the options are, and it's also an opportunity for families from a wide variety of financial backgrounds to learn about how we provide scholarship money,” Brown says.

“We have a very robust financial aid package to support families who have students who will show promise across the time they're at our

Brown says the overall value add boarding schools bring are the relationships beyond the network that it opens up for them beyond graduation. Students make lifelong friends that will come out and continue to support each other because boarding school is a unique and formidable experience.

“Post COVID, I think these schools are going to become more popular because not only with the residential component but trying to get them back to focusing on the wellness and mental health,” she says. “Boarding school is a gift of time—you're not dealing with traffic; you're not jumping in the car at 9 p.m., dealing with hockey practice and then having to come back and do your homework at 11 or miss classes.”

She says because the students are there around the clock, schools are able to give families unique insights into their children,

Erby Mitchell, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid for The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT, says the LFCDS event and other events like it around the country give parents and students that might not have had access to much information about boarding schools a better understanding of what their options are. Illinois is one of the top five recruiting markets for Hotchkiss.

An example of the benefits of boarding schools can be found in how they were able to weather the COVID-19 storm. Other than the Spring 2020 semester when students did not return after spring break, Hotchkiss, with teaching faculty living on campus, were able to continue in-person classes.

“Kids could be here, and we were able to keep them safe,” Mitchell says. “With our 287acre campus, a lake, and a farm, kids were able to study outside and stay active.”

“Explore Boarding School” will take place at Lake Forest Country Day School on May 3 at 6 p.m., with a mini-fair to follow. For more information visit LFCDS.org.

On May 3, representatives from 10 elite boarding schools on the East Coast will converge on the campus of Lake Forest Country Day School to highlight what they have to offer students and parents.

Students at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

The campus of The Hotchkiss School covers 287 acres in Lakeville, CT.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

In 1976, poet Alice Judson Hayes founded the Ragdale Foundation, a nonprofit artists’ community that provides a peaceful place for artists to work. The foundation was established on the grounds of the Ragdale estate in Lake Forest, built by Hayes’s grandfather and noted Chicago Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1897.

Hayes passed away in 2006, but her legacy and influence lives on. Fifteen years ago, the foundation launched “Novel Affair,” an annual event that celebrates established and emerging artists and raises important funds to support the foundation’s work. This year’s event will take place this weekend and will feature 10 established and emerging writers, an accomplished poet, and a storied music photographer.

On Friday, April 28, a cocktail reception will be held at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff, during which guests will have the opportunity to mix with the artists, hear artists’ remarks, and ask questions.

The Friday evening event will close with a book signing.

A sit-down dinner will take place at the Ragdale estate on Saturday, April 29. Artists will join guests for engaging and informative conversation, followed by a dessert reception.

One of the participating writers at the year’s Novel Affair will be Chicago-based novelist Julia Fine. Fine is the author of two well-received novels, What Should Be Wild and The Upstairs House. Her third novel, Maddalena and the Dark, will be published in June.

“My work has spanned a variety of different topics, but in general it is focused on women throughout history and untold stories,” Fine says. “There’s often a tinge of gothic and horror to it.”

Fine grew up in the Washington, DC area and moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College in Chicago. Now that

she’s established herself with a third work of fiction on the way, we asked Fine if she could describe the influences that got her to this point.

She mentions a kindred spirit, Stephanie Delman, founder of Trellis Literary Management. Delman, a literary agent, was striking out on her own when they first met and the two hit it off.

Through Trellis, Fine has discovered not just an agent and friend but a community that defies the typical competitiveness and lack of peer support that can so often be found in the art world.

“I found that the literary community that I have become a part of is very supportive,” says Fine. “For a job that is a lot of time spent by yourself at your computer, years of working on a project and you don’t know if it will see the light of day, having that community support is so important.”

Fine got connected with the Ragdale community fairly recently. She had known about the foundation for a while, but with two young children the residency programs just weren’t a possibility. She says the residencies are the ideal situation for writers during which they have no responsibilities or commitments other than to focus on their craft.

“I’ve gotten to do a night there, but my goal is that once my kids are a little more self-sufficient, I would really like to

Ragdale

be able to take advantage,” she says. “I do know many people who have done the full residency there and have gotten so much work done.”

Having a place where more seasoned writers who are further along in their careers can rub shoulders with writers who are just getting started is “magical,” Fine says. Kindred spirits who are all on separate missions but collectively trying to achieve the same thing.

“The hardest part I think is getting the project finished,”

Fine observes. “Everybody is working on a project that feels impossible and so your relative success thus far doesn’t matter quite as much as what you’re doing in that moment, which is a really nice thing.”

Ragdale’s “Novel Affair” will take place on April 28 and 29. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ragdale.org/novelaffair.

The Garden Gate

Famed film critic Rex Reed weighs in on To Catch a Killer and Chevalier

BY REX REED

ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 59 minutes

RATING: 3 stars

TO CATCH A KILLER

This action-thriller about a serial killer on the loose in Baltimore delivers with a dedicated cast.

Shailene Woodley, the versatile, dedicated and realism-drenched actress who never makes a wrong move (I'm still haunted by her galvanizing performances as both a spirited young cancer patient in The Fault in Our Stars and the heroic survivor of a calamitous hurricane at sea in Adrift) delivers another blockbuster punch in the above-average action thriller To Catch a Killer.

Teamed with the equally superb Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn, the chemistry will keep your mind alert and your temples pounding.

This film wastes no time finding an immediate pace that only occasionally pauses to catch its breath. It begins shockingly on New Year's Eve nearing the stroke of midnight when crowds of innocent partygoers in Baltimore enjoying the fireworks are suddenly massacred in hot tubs, elevators, cocktail lounges with glass windows and on the street.

A savage serial killer is on the loose and as the casualties multiply, the intuitions of a rookie cop named Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) attract the attention of a seasoned

FBI special agent summoned from the regional Maryland field office named Geoffrey Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) to find and catch the anonymous terrorist.

What threatens to be another routine police procedural is quickly elevated by the keenly observational direction of Damian Szifron, who wrote the clever and suspenseful screenplay with Jonathan Wakeham. Once Lammark recruits Eleanor as his assistant-confidante, eyebrows raise, snafus ensue, and sparks fly.

Lammark is tough, demanding and hard as a rock. He is also secretly gay. Eleanor is inexperienced, nauseated by violence of any kind, but informed by a troubled psychological past of her own with scars on her wrists to prove it. As a liaison between the Bureau and the Baltimore police department, she provides insights into the twisted mind of a skilled sniper that Lammark finds essential, grafted onto the fearless spirit and curiosity of a young Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs

As the details of the investigation unfold, the writer-director's refusal to fall into a familiar

collection of cliches is admirable, but from the chain of command to the cell-phone surveillance to the technical descriptions of outdated weapons to the ballistics, the specifics of the strategy are hard to follow.

While the film explores their strengths as law enforcement officers, it also reveals the crime team's weaknesses as people. Lammark's husband is brought in for no reason, Eleanor's analysis of the killer's motivations is annoying. But the dialogue is intelligent and believable, and the actors' charisma is undeniable.

Woodley plays it on the verge of mental and physical exhaustion, rubbing the pain from her eye and managing the stress of the job the way aspirin act on backaches, giving every scene a little something extra. The dark, freezing cold of Baltimore in the winter (played by Montreal) is fully captured by the punishing cinematography of Javier Julia. So, for the most part, To Catch a Killer is a thriller that thrills more than other similar films do, and Shailene Woodley adds another laurel to her already impressive resume.

CHEVALIER

Based on a true story about a Black composer living in Paris before the French Revolution, this opulent film is worth seeing, despite some minor flaws.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 47 minutes

RATING: 3 stars

Set in Paris in the days before the French Revolution, Chevalier is an opulent footnote to Black history about Joseph Bologne—born in Guadeloupe as the illegitimate son of an aristocratic French plantation owner. An African slave, he shocked and tantalized society

with his astounding genius as a composer, violinist, and swordsman, attracting the attention and admiration of Marie Antoinette and her court with uncommon grace, talent, and sex appeal.

Typical of his controversial audacity is an

early scene in which he interrupts a Paris concert conducted by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the middle of the maestro's Fifth Symphony and asks to play it with him. From there, the film, directed by Stephen Williams and written in lavish detail by Stefani Rob-

inson, chronicles the triumphs and tragedies faced by the brilliant musician (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a dazzling centerpiece performance) who rose to the pinnacle of popularity while battling racial prejudice his entire life.

Climbing against all odds from outcast to a position of honor and privilege in the Queen's inner circle, Bologne was anointed with the title Chevalier de St George. He was desired by a vindictive older woman, La Guimard (Minnie Driver), but fell instead for a beautiful but forbidden singer, Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving) who was very much

married to the cruel Marquis Montalembert, a cruel, sadistic and titled reprobate renowned as a murderous bully and tyrant (played by the marvelous Marton Csokas).

When Josephine defies her husband, accepts the lead in Bologne's new opera without his knowledge or permission, and in the process, to the marquis' horror and humiliation, secretly becomes the mistress of a Black man, Bologne finds his libido invigorated but his life endangered.

Jealous and resentful forces conspire to plot his downfall, destroying any hope of

achieving his greatest ambition—becoming the next leader of the prestigious Paris Opera.

The movie piles on one damned thing after another, often turning a truly original life story into a Rabelaisian soap opera replete with powdered wigs and violin concertos. In truth, Napoleon Bonaparte later banned Bologne's popular compositions, many of which have never been found or heard to this day. Some of that legacy rises from the ashes of obscurity in Chevalier, and even with its flaws, it's worth hearing again.

517 Cumnor Kenilworth

4 BD | 3.1 BA

Joanne Hudson

joanne.hudson@compass.com

847.971.5024

Open Sunday April 30th, 12-2.

Captivating home in east Kenilworth with well designed additions for today’s living and convenient access to schools, play fields, parks and Lake Michigan - all on a large (75 x 175) lot. This wonderful home has been thoughtfully renovated to include both front and rear additions with all the space needed for today’s living requirements including a large primary suite, three additional bedrooms (plus a delightful office/playroom) and two additional full baths. The 3rd floor retreat offers private office and ‘hang out’ spaces. Charming garage has a walkup unfinished loft space for future potential. Come and check this out at the open house ... and make it yours!

Fennel, Farro + Mushrooms

BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

April’s showers and mild temperatures transform the Midwest’s barren winter terrain into a lovely green carpet of fresh growth. Foragers search the woods for wild ramps and mushrooms. Farmers markets come alive with asparagus and peas, spring garlic and parsnips, baby radishes, and, my favorite, snowy white

fennel bulbs capped by feathery fronds. I’ve long loved the anise-like taste and crunch of raw fennel in slaws or salads but when roasted, fennel sheds that licorice flavor to become lusciously sweet and caramelly. Paired with the sexy silkiness of exotic mushrooms, nutty farro, zesty lemon, and fresh snipped parsley,

this warm salad is delicious on its own, or as a side dish. I like to serve it with a drizzle of balsamic syrup and a smattering of shaved parmesan. I made this with an assortment of beautiful gourmet mushrooms (Lion’s Tooth, Blue Oyster, Chestnut, Lion’s Mane, and Elm Oyster) grown at Windy City Mushrooms,

and available for pick-up at the Village Farmstand in Evanston. But the dish also works well with fresh foraged edible mushrooms, or mushrooms you may find through Grow Lake County, a website filled with links to local farmers and locally grown foods. If you are eating gluten-free, use brown rice instead of farro.

Setting the Bar Since 1936

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup organic farro

• 2 teaspoons salt, divided

• 2 to 3 fennel bulbs, cores discarded, bulbs sliced into small pieces to make 3 cups (Save a few fronds for garnish)

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

• Zest from 1 lemon

METHOD

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare farro in a rice cooker (3 cups water to 1 cup farro) or prepare farro on stovetop as follows: In a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat, bring 2 quarts water to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup farro and return hot water to boiling. Reduce heat to medium and boil farro, uncovered, for about 30 minutes until soft. Drain off water. Place farro in a large bowl. Finely grate the zest of one lemon into the farro. Squeeze 2 teaspoons of juice from half of the lemon into the farro. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Stir. Set aside.

In a large shallow bowl, toss fennel pieces with 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds of fresh black pepper. Spread fennel in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for ten minutes. Stir

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (or more, to taste)

• ½ cup yellow onion, slivered or shallot, slivered

• 3 cups fresh gourmet mushrooms (Oyster, Chestnut, Lion’s Mane, Lion’s Tooth), cleaned and sliced or substitute mix of cremini and shiitake mushrooms

• 2 cups fresh parsley leaves, minced

• ¼ cup shaved parmesan

• Balsamic glaze, as desired

fennel pieces. Roast for another 10 minutes or until caramelized and crispy on the edges. Remove from oven. Scoop roasted fennel into the farro.

In a sauté pan over medium-low heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and slivered onion or shallot. Cook for three minutes, stirring. Add ½ cup water and continue cooking until onion is quite soft. Add sliced mushrooms and continue cooking until soft and no water remains in the mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in minced parsley. Scoop mixture into the bowl of farro. Stir to combine. Adjust seasoning with more lemon juice, salt, and pepper if desired. Place in a serving bowl (or bowls); top with shaved parmesan and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic glaze. Serve warm.

EDITED BY DUSTIN O'REGAN ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

For Winnetka resident KIM MELANCON, supporting Willow House is personal. After unexpectedly losing her 2-year-old son in 2003, she was looking for ways to support herself and her then 5-year-old daughter, Rachel. Thankfully, she found Willow House, a local nonprofit organization that provides no-cost bereavement services for children, teens, young adults, and parents who have lost a parent (spouse), child or sibling. The death of a parent, sibling, or other important person in a child’s life is one of the most frequently reported disruptive childhood experiences. Through Willow House, Melancon found the support she needed for herself and her young daughter. Such a loss makes children feel very alone and different, and Willow House’s Peer Support Groups provide children with a safe and compassionate space to express their feelings and interact with others who share a similar loss. After their first meeting, Rachel said to her Mom, “When can we come back? I love it here!” Those words were music to Melancon’s ears. Loss is very isolating, and the friendships made through Willow House help families get through dark times. Today, Melancon is giving back to Willow House as they celebrate their 25th Anniversary. A member of the organization’s commemorative gala committee, she is delighted to promote the services of and raise funds for Willow House. The 25th Anniversary Gala will be held Saturday, May 20 from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. at the Winnetka Community House.  For more information and to purchase tickets, visit willowhouse. org/25thGala

MY NIGHTSTAND

Here and Now and Then by Michael Chen. Mr. Chen tells a remarkable story about a man torn between two lives, one in the present and one in the future. The premise was fascinating and the story quick paced with great characters. The many twists and turns made it hard to put down.

On my phone is NPR’s Fresh Air. I find listening to the stories of others very inspirational. Everyone faces obstacles throughout their life, and this show is a powerful reminder that we do not know what a person is going through and what they have overcome. It sheds light on the importance of living empathetically.

I love podcasts. I’m a dedicated listener of the Daily by The NY Times. Each episode delves deep into one current daily event. I’m also a fan of This American Life, which incorporates traditional journalism built around a plot—such as when they reported on putting a band together from musicians’ classified ads.

#HASHTAG

#ON

#ON MY MOBILE

#IN MY EARBUDS

MATERIAL PURSUITS

This weekend’s curated luxury trends

LIGHTNING MCQUEEN

How much would you pay to own the late actor Steve McQueen’s iconic 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4? You know the one. Repainted Chianti Red by the King of Cool himself and restored by Ferrari Classiche (under the ownership of championship race car driver Vern Schuppan) between 2010 and 2013? The long nose berlinetta coupe was purchased by the illustrious car aficionado to replace his uber-rare 275 GTS/4 NART Spider (after being rear-ended at a stop light in Malibu) and according to RM Sotheby’s, could fetch between $5 million and $7 million. Documented with a factory build sheet, period correspondence from McQueen, and a history report by marque expert Marcel Massini, the Ferrari has been the subject of multiple magazine articles. And with the added allure of once being owned by McQueen himself, it’s no wonder. From the brilliant motorcycling of The Great Escape to the legendary chase through San Francisco in Bullitt to his screams of “Punch it, baby!” in Sam Peckinpah’s unforgettably gritty The Getaway, McQueen forged an identity as one of cinema’s most genuine car enthusiasts. The Ferrari has already drawn global attention so prepare to make your highest offer when this infamous collectible leads RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction on August 18 and 19. Find out more at rmsothebys.com.

LOUIS VUITTON MANUFACTURES

Louis Vuitton fosters the idea that an atelier can be a place of fulfillment and individuality. A place where savoir-faire can be learned, respected, and transmitted—and innovation nurtured—by artisans who routinely challenge the image of a traditional workshop. In pursuit of regional expertise and artisanal excellence, Louis Vuitton’s ateliers span the length and breadth of France and beyond, from Geneva, Switzerland, to Fiesso d’Artico, Italy, and even Texas. Sites of historic interest or outstanding natural beauty will often have a Louis Vuitton workshop nearby. In Normandy, the seagirt majesty of MontSaint-Michel can be seen from the workshop at Ducey, and in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, the light-flooded facility promises low environmental impact. Featuring photographs commissioned exclusively for this book, Louis Vuitton Manufactures showcases the extraordinary locations and buildings of Louis Vuitton’s ateliers, and the equally extraordinary artisans who express their talent through Louis Vuitton’s creations (trunks, bags, fragrances, watches, shoes, high-end jewelry and ready-to-wear), while carrying the founder’s techniques and savoir-faire into the 21st century. For more information, visit assouline.com.

DERMINFUSIONS FILL + REPAIR SERUM

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PORTRAIT OF A PORTRAYAL ARTIST

History buff and avid theater fan Leslie Goddard continues to thrive in a career that combines both of her primary passions.

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

After another one of her spot-on historical portrayals of a famous woman from mid20th century America, Leslie Goddard was approached by a concerned audience member. Goddard had performed a 45-minute, one-woman play about Rachel Carson, the marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose 1962 book, Silent Spring, documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

“I had revealed, during my portrayal of Rachel, that Rachel had a recurrence of breast cancer,” recounts Goddard, who, during her portrayal, wore what Carson typically donned in the 1950s and 1960s. “A woman came up to me after my presentation and said to me, ‘I hope you have a good oncologist.’”

Carson died in 1964.

The audience member’s genuine concern for the current condition of the late Carson’s health had inadvertently doubled as quite a compliment for the talented Goddard, whose career as a historical portrayer, history lecturer, and holiday program presenter was born 20 years ago and is as hale and healthy as ever.

She conducted 425 presentations in 2022, which provided her with only 365 days. Goddard, a Darien resident, enthralled and educated 11 audiences, including several at North Shore-based venues, such as a library, church, or senior center. She has made appearances in 30 states since 2003.

“I’m not concerned about impersonating a famous woman as much as I am about evoking, as best I can, who the woman was,” says the 53-year-old Goddard, who has portrayed, among others, Julia Child, Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Tupperware Lady Brownie Wise, Queen Elizabeth II, and—her newest—Betty the Pan Am Stewardess. “Impersonating someone risks turning her into a caricature. Choosing a character I want to portray is the hardest part of what I do, because I know I’ll have to live with that woman’s voice in my head for years.

“So I want to make sure it is someone interesting, and that there’s enough interest out there in the person.”

Goddard’s very first portrayal, in 2003, was that of Frances Willard, an educator, temperance reformer, and women’s suffragist.

Goddard’s depiction of Betty the Pan Am stewardess is a composite of several Pan Am

stewardesses. In this his torical portrayal, you’ll learn about the reallife experiences of Pan Am stewardesses in the 1960s, the airline’s strict height, weight and age requirements, the steward esses’ interac tions with celebrity passengers, and vivid details of some wild rides.

as she does for all of her chosen characters, spent a year researching Betty. She interviewed flight attendants from the era and read the book World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am Cooke. stewardesses back then were ones of young, beautiful women,” Goddard says.

“But these women were groundbreakers. They

Chanel, but those characters are “high on my bucket list,” Goddard says. After Goddard portrayed Titanic survivor Violet Jessop, she was asked about number of dogs on board the ill-fated ocean

after that event,” Goddard says of one of her favorite pastimes. “I found out 12 dogs were on board and three

Edward “Doc” Wingler, the late Hinsdale Central High Theatre Director, directed the

play Talley’s Folly in Goddard’s junior year at the school. It’s about one night in the life of two unlikely sweethearts. Goddard landed the role of Sally Talley, two years after having performed in the produc-

one of my big passions. History became the other.”

Goddard majored in English and Theater at Stanford University and got her M.A. in Theatre History and Literature at the University of Illinois, before earning another M.A. degree (in Museum Studies) at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. She completed an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program (U.S. History, Women’s History, American Studies, Theater) at Northwestern University.

Among her full-time positions from 20062013 were community programs coordinator at the Elmhurst Historical Museum, exhibit developer at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, and executive director of the Graue Mill and Museum in Oak Brook.

“I visited Graue Mill and Museum as a child, and I wanted to live there,” Goddard says. “When I traveled with my father to Sarasota, Florida, where he covered the Chicago White Sox in spring training, I visited the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art down there. I wanted to live there, too.”

A number of awards take up space in her house in Darien, where she lives with husband and history buff Bruce. She won a 2018 Association of Lincoln Presenters Excellence Award for her presentation, “Jackie Kennedy.” Goddard was named Best Speaker in 2014 by Westerners International for her portrayal of Bertha Palmer, a businesswoman, socialist, and philanthropist.

And she has written three books, including Lost Chicago Department Stores (The History Press, 2022). Arcadia Publishing published Goddard’s first two books, Remembering Marshall Fields (2011) and Chicago’s Sweet Candy History (2012).

“What I like to do through my portrayals is spark an interest in history,” Goddard says a couple of hours ahead of her “Julia Child” appearance at a Lake Bluff Women’s Club luncheon in April. “I want couples to talk about what they learned on their car ride home. I want them to head to the library the next day and check out a book about the woman I portrayed.

were adventurous for their era. They led exciting lives, with some, at the age of 21, getting to see the Taj Mahal. They also endured scary moments, like snipers attacking Pan Am planes flying in and out of Saigon during the Vietnam War.”

Lizzie Borden is the only character Goddard has portrayed who was not a heroine. She has yet to portray Lucille Ball or Coco

tions of Equus and A Streetcar Named Desire as an HCHS freshman.

“I was crazy fortunate my freshman year,” says Goddard, the daughter of the late Joe Goddard, a Chicago Sun-Times baseball writer for 27 years, and Evanston resident Carol Goddard, a former Pioneer Press bureau chief. “Doc Wingler was a great director who liked challenging scripts. Theater became

“I was blessed to have had the constant support of my parents in the early years of my career. I never thought I’d be able to find a rewarding vocation that combined my interests in history and theatre.”

Visit www.lesliegoddard.info for more information about Leslie Goddard’s historical portrayals, history lectures, and holiday programs.

Choosing a character I want to portray is the hardest part of what I do, because I know I’ll have to live with that woman’s voice in my head for years.

Leslie

Goddard

EXPLORE BOARDING SCHOOL

T S A O

TEN SC HOOLS ADMISSION ORGANIZATION

Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | 6 p.m. Presentation

Mini-fair to follow presentation.

Schools Represented | Choate Rosemary Hall, Deerfield Academy, The Hill School, The Hotchkiss School, The Lawrenceville School, The Loomis Chaffe School, Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul’s School, The Taft School

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