Very few individuals are paid to make catty comments about people, places or things that they find outrageous, abhorrent, or just plain silly. Fewer still can make a living at it. But for Lerner Skyline columnist Ann Gerber, the signature "Annie's Catty Comment" has become the well-known intro for a clever, chatty, interesting weekly column which is framed by a melange of local entertainment dish, celebrity gossip and witty insightful commentary intermeshed with hard news. Gerber takes great pride in the fact that she often includes celebrity material that is indeed exclusive to her. Gerber punctuates her widely popular columns with pages of pithy pictures called "Hot Shots."
Gerber has spent 40 years as a columnist for the Lerner Skyline Newspapers and survived being fired from the Chicago Sun-Times as their first "Society" columnist when she printed a "blind item" that proved unsettling to both her former editor and Sun-Times' management. Gerber was out of work for a mere four months in the summer of 1989. It was then that she created "Spotlight Chicago," a tab social/feature paper that ran for three years, from the fall of 1989 through 1992.
Gerber is also an author of two cookbooks, Chicago's Classiest Cuisine and Chicago's Sweet Tooth, published in 1985 and 1987. Gerber has also visited China, Russia, South America, Scandinavia, Singapore, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Germany and Austria. She has been to England 15 times at last count, to Paris 20 times and has made the journey to Hong Kong eight times.
Gerber's local notoriety and ample sense of humor were recently captured by Chicago graphics designer Lee Kay, who created an amazing caricature of the sassy columnist dressed in a pink negligee and seductively posed on a pink flowered bed a la Barbara Cartland. The life-sized likeness of Gerber has a winking eye, arms and legs that move, and is appropriately surrounded by framed pictures of legendary Hollywood gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. The scene is replete with a blue telephone, cocktail shaker, and a white typewriter at Ann's "bedside." Kay, who created the humorous and colorful homage to Gerber with a forked paintbrush, displayed his handiwork in the window of Batteries Not Included, in the heart of Boys Town at 3420 N. Halsted ( thru Aug. 22 ) .
A native Chicagoan, Gerber proudly states that she is married to her "third and last husband," has two stepsons and also a pet dog named "Gigi." Calling herself a "proud Liberal," Ann Gerber enjoys reading, gardening, and, of course, travel.
DAVID GUARINO: So, Ann, could you tell us a little bit about your experiences working for the Sun-Times?
ANN GERBER: Well it was for two and a half years, and I left there in 1989.
DG: And you've been working in journalism for how many years, exactly?
AG: Forty. I started when I was in high school, David. And I never left the field. I went to Senn High School and graduated from Wright Junior College. And I went to both Northwestern and Mundelein ( universities ) , but I didn't get a degree. I was in The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.
DG: And you've written for the Lerner Skyline newspapers for all of the 40 years you've been in the business?
AG: ( Ann nods ) Forty years. Because I was there for 35 ( years ) , and then I went to The Sun-Times, and then I did Spotlight, which was a little independent paper. And then they ( Lerner Skyline ) called me to come back. Actually it's going on 41, 42 years.
DG: From reading your weekly Skyline column, we know you cover a very wide spectrum of stories. Who have you found to be the most difficult people to write about and why?
AG: Truthfully I would say it would have to be the local antiabortionists who refuse to abide by the legal right for women to abort. It is particularly unpleasant to report on the disgusting signs, parades and the foul language they use in public demonstrations. Those have truly been some of the worst stories I've had to write. Fortunately, sanity reigns and they are a minority, although very vocal.
DG: Do you consider yourself a "gossip columnist" or an "entertainment reporter," Ann, and why?
AG: ( Ann smiles ) I'm really a newspaper editor. I think my strong points are editing and realizing when a story is news. I like very much doing a "gossipy" column. I am not a gossip columnist. I prefer to consider myself a "People Columnist," with some of the extra dish that makes that more exciting. If you read my column, you know that I do put hard news in there, really commenting on it. I like it to be a mix of interesting and amusing anecdotes; it's news as well as entertainment reporting.
DG: What was the inspiration for your famous "Annie's Catty Comment"?
AG: When I started the column years ago, I had been an editor for many years. But the column is probably only 30 years old, and I was an editor before that, doing articles and feature stories. And one day a male colleague said, "You know, that's very catty," referring to something I had written. And "catty" is another word for "gossipy." People think it also means having your talons out, which it does. And I really thought it was too juvenile. When I came back to Lerner several years ago, I decided not to use "Annie's Catty Comment" at the beginning of my column as I had done for so long. And too many people called and wrote in and said, "Why doesn't your column contain Annie's Catty Comment?" ( We both laugh ) Now I have a license plate on my car that says "Catty," but people think it's my name.
DG: What did you do during your employ at the Sun-Times, Ann?
AG: I was hired as a society columnist. And really it was the first time that people in Lake Forest ( Ill. ) , Lake Geneva, Oakbrook, Hinsdale started getting the Sun-Times. Because I wrote a lot of waspy social stuff, and I included a lot of pictures. And the Sun-Times had never done that. In fact, nobody did it anymore. The Tribune, years ago, used to have a really good society page. But it went by the wayside because "society" is not considered important anymore. I think they think that only blue-haired ladies sipping tea are reading it, but in truth people like to read about the ( society ) parties, see what people were wearing. And so, it was the first time that the Sun-Times had ever gotten really accepted by the wealthy, rich and famous, and they were doing very well with circulation. And then they fired me, and it all went downhill. HA-HA! ( Ann smiles defiantly )
DG: Can you briefly tell us the circumstances of your firing?
AG: I ran a blind item, "Can it be true that one of the richest women in Chicago came home early from a trip to California and found her lover in bed with her hairdresser?" I never use names, however it was widely considered to be the famous "Oprah Rumor" which had been around for a year. Bob Collins had it on his radio show with names, and after I heard it on his show and since I had already known about it ( for a year ) , I thought, well, I'd run a blind item. And they ended up firing me. I think that they thought Oprah was going to tell all of her fans not to read the Sun-Times, at least they used that as an excuse. Because as my lawyer told me, "You were hired and paid to print gossip, and that's all you did." And so the Sun-Times did settle with me for quite a bit of money, not as much as I'd wanted. And you know, David, the paper saw everything I wrote before it went in, that was another thing. The editor was just as responsible.
DG: Do you ever "out" people in your column or hint at their sexuality, if it is under suspicion or particularly if they are allegedly gay or lesbian? How do you feel about the ever-growing trend of "outing" famous people in the media?
AG: ( Ann frowns and shakes her head ) I would never "out" anyone. I believe that each of us, no matter how famous or infamous, has the right to both privacy and a private life. Why should anyone's sexual preference or orientation be of either concern or interest to anybody else?
DG: Can you tell us how your weekly column differs from columns like Michael Sneed's column in the Sun-Times or Bill Zwecker's "People" column in the same paper? Or Dean Richard's WGN radio broadcasts and entertainment reports?
AG: Since I am low man on the totem pole ( with a weekly column ) , I have to dig for material that wouldn't be found in Sneed's or Zwecker's daily columns. I think my column is more people-oriented, as opposed to celebrity-oriented. I will tell you that if you read my column you know that I often get celebrity material that is exclusive to me.
DG: Can you tell us what charity or charities you lend your name and time to?
AG: I honestly try to support all charities with pictures and stories. I especially feel for parents who are trying to obtain research funds for little-known diseases that are claiming the lives of the children.
DG: What is the real Ann Gerber like?
AG: Well, away from my byline I love to garden, play "fetch" with my dog Gigi ( she taught me how ) , read absolutely everything I can get my hot little hands on. Occasionally I cook for my long-suffering husband!
DG: You have been an outspoken voice against [ President Bush ] ...
AG: I think Bush is a terrible, inept, mean-spirited President who is ruining the ( condition of the ) country. He has publicly declared his intent to help, all the while cutting funding for such important, vital, programs as education, toxic waste cleanup, conservation, AIDS research, etc.
DG: Given all the [ competition ] , can you give us three GOOD reasons why we should read your column, Ann?
AG: ( Ann smiles ruefully ) Why read my column? You can live a perfectly happy, fulfilled life without ever reading my column. On the plus side, I do give a more personal, straightforward opinion piece right at the beginning of my column ( MY catty comment ) that no one else in this town has the guts to write. I step on toes when I have to.
Gerber's column and "Hot Shots" appear weekly in the Lerner Skyline Newspapers.
E-mail: DavdRonald@aol.com
