Chicago Tribute Markers of Distinction

There’s a plaque on the building where he lived. A historical marker overgrown by a tree and no parking sign behind lines of cars on a street called Evergreen, where Nelson Algren spent a couple decades of his carousing days along Division, despite the likes of Simone de Beauvoir.
Nelson, the crafty Jew with a Swedish name, lived on the third floor. I walked around alleyside to see the back porch — looked ragged enough for him to have perhaps once stood upon, contemplating a dive. Half a dance and a pint of whiskey to imagine a beloved muse who took his balls to the driving range and sandbagged them forever and for keeps.
An overgrown marker and a rotting porch. It’s a good thing he wrote it down, or there’d be nothing left.
Cheers to Chicago Cultural Center Foundation, Chicago Tribune Foundation, and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs for collaborating in attempt to keep some semblance of history alive in the ever-​changing landscape of this city. For more Markers of Distinction, visit
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Where will yours be?