The last copy of the Chicago Daily News I picked up had three crime stories on its front page. But by comparison to the gaudy days, this is small-time stuff. Chicago is as full of crooks as a saw with teeth, but the era when they ruled the city is gone forever.

Touch water in the West and you touch everything.

What interested me was not news, but appraisal. What I sought was to grasp the flavor of a man, his texture, his impact, what he stood for, what he believed in, what made him what he was and what color he gave to the fabric of his time.

Live while you live, then die and be done with.

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.

He was trying to save both his faces.

The camera is one of the greatest liars of our time.