Editing Mike Royko

{{Short description|American newspaper columnist (1932–1997)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = Mike Royko
| image       = Mike Royko.jpg
| caption     = Royko, {{Circa|early 1970s}}
| birth_name  = Michael Royko Jr.
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1932|9|19}}
| birth_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1997|4|29|1932|9|19}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| occupation  = {{hlist|Journalist|columnist}}
| period      = 1955–1997
| language    = English
| resting_place = [[Acacia Park Cemetery, Norwood Park Township|Acacia Park Cemetery]] ([[Chicago]])
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Carol Duckman|1954|1979|end = died}}
* {{marriage|Judy Arndt|1986}}
}}
| children    = 4
}}

'''Michael Royko Jr.''' (September 19, 1932 – April 29, 1997) was an American newspaper columnist from [[Chicago]], Illinois.  Over his 42-year career, he wrote more than 7,500 daily columns for the ''[[Chicago Daily News]]'', the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', and the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''.  A humorist who focused on life in Chicago, he was the winner of the 1972 [[Pulitzer Prize for commentary]].

==Early life and education==
Royko was born and grew up in [[Chicago]], where he lived in an apartment above a bar. His mother, Helen (née Zak), was [[Polish American|Polish]], and his father, Michael Royko, was [[Ukrainian American|Ukrainian]] (born in [[Dolyna]]).<ref name="Scrib">{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Kenneth T.|first2=Karen|last2=Markoe|author3=Arnie Markoe|title=The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives: 1997–1999|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1998|pages=499–501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QsOn9_NviAC&q=Royko|isbn=0-684-80663-0 }}</ref> He briefly attended [[Wright Junior College]] and then enlisted in the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] in 1952.<ref name="LitJourn">{{cite book|last=Applegate|first=Edd|title=Literary Journalism: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers and Editors|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1996|pages=[https://archive.org/details/literaryjournali00appl/page/221 221]–223|url=https://archive.org/details/literaryjournali00appl|url-access=registration|quote=Royko.|isbn=0-313-29949-8}}</ref>

==Career==
===Journalism===
On becoming a columnist, Royko drew on experiences from his childhood. He began his newsman's career as a columnist in 1955 for ''The O'Hare News'', a [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] newspaper, the [[City News Bureau of Chicago]] and [[Lerner Newspapers]]' ''[[Lerner Newspapers#Booster|Lincoln-Belmont Booster]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419201048/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720141701/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419201048/|url-status=dead|title=Mike Royko – St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture – Find Articles|date=July 20, 2012|archive-date=July 20, 2012|website=Archive.today|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref> before working at the ''[[Chicago Daily News]]'' as a reporter, becoming an irritant to the City's politicians with penetrating and skeptical questions and reports.

Royko covered [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] politics and government in a weekly political column, soon supplemented with a second, weekly column reporting about Chicago's [[folk music]] scene. 

The success of those columns earned him a daily column in 1964, writing about all topics for the ''Daily News'', an afternoon newspaper.  His column appeared five days a week until 1992, when he cut back to four days a week.<ref>Terry, Don (1997). [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/30/us/mike-royko-the-voice-of-the-working-class-dies-at-64.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Mike Royko, the Voice of the Working Class, Dies at 64], ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> [[Studs Terkel]] explained Royko's incredible productivity and longevity by simply saying, "He is possessed by a demon."<ref>Terkel, p. 206</ref> In 1972, Royko received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Commentary|Pulitzer Prize for commentary]] as a ''Daily News'' columnist.

===Chicago Sun-Times===
When the ''Daily News'' closed, Royko worked for its allied morning newspaper, the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''. In 1984, [[Rupert Murdoch]], for whom Royko said he would never work, bought the ''Sun-Times''. Royko commented "No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in a Murdoch paper," and that "his goal is not quality journalism. His goal is vast power for Rupert Murdoch, political power."<ref name=fish>{{cite book|last=F. Richard|first=Ciccone|title=Royko: A Life in Print|date=September 9, 2009|page=339|publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=9780786751976|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOeES8HTUFcC&pg=PA339}}</ref>  Mike Royko then worked for the rival ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', a paper he had said he'd never work for and at which he never felt comfortable.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmGOt346misC&pg=PA124|title=Chicago's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities|first=Laura|last=Enright|date=July 6, 2018|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=9781612340340|access-date=July 6, 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOeES8HTUFcC&pg=PA16|title=Royko: A Life In Print|first1=F. Richard|last1=Ciccone|first2=Richard|last2=Ciccone|date=September 9, 2009|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=9780786751976|access-date=July 6, 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>Terkel, p. 205</ref> For a period after the takeover, the ''Sun-Times'' reprinted Royko's columns, while new columns appeared in the ''Tribune.''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/id/23389/ |first=Jacob |last=Weisberg |title=I Like Mike, Why Royko of Chicago was our greatest columnist |work=Slate |date=April 11, 1999 |access-date=June 9, 2021}}</ref>

Many of Royko's columns are collected in books. He also authored ''[[Boss (book)|Boss]]'', his [[unauthorized biography]] of [[Richard J. Daley]], the 48th mayor of Chicago, and the father of [[Richard M. Daley|Richard]], [[William M. Daley|William]], and [[John P. Daley]]. 
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | video1 = [https://www.popuparchive.com/collections/938/items/22276 Mike Royko talks with Studs Terkel on WFMT; 1969/02/26], [[Studs Terkel Radio Archive]]<ref name="studs">{{cite web | title =Mike Royko talks with Studs Terkel on WFMT; 1969/02/26 | publisher =[[Studs Terkel Radio Archive]] | date =February 26, 1969 | url =https://www.popuparchive.com/collections/938/items/22276 | access-date =September 29, 2016 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161001182025/https://www.popuparchive.com/collections/938/items/22276 | archive-date =October 1, 2016 | url-status =dead }}</ref> }}

In 1976, a Royko column criticized the [[Chicago Police Department]] for providing an around-the-clock security detail for [[Frank Sinatra]]. Sinatra responded with a letter calling Royko a "pimp," and threatening to "punch [Royko] in the mouth" for speculating that he wore a [[toupée]].<ref>[https://lettersofnote.com/2009/11/30/youre-nothing-but-a-pimp/ You're Nothing but a Pimp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603045758/https://lettersofnote.com/2009/11/30/youre-nothing-but-a-pimp/ |date=June 3, 2020 }} ''lettersofnote.com'' (November 30, 2009); retrieved April 18, 2020</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MXc6IS_OHrAC&pg=PA95 Royko Column, May 6, 1976], Mr. Sinatra Sends a Letter, reprinted in'' One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko''</ref> Royko auctioned the letter, the proceeds going to the [[Salvation Army]]. The winner of the auction was Vie Carlson, mother of [[Cheap Trick]] drummer [[Bun E. Carlos]]. After appearing on ''[[Antiques Roadshow (American TV program)|Antiques Roadshow]]'',<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/video/antiques-roadshow-coming-up-monday-november-28th-at-87c-pm-madison-hour-1-1/ Appraisal: 1976 Frank Sinatra Signed Letter to Mike Royko] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801084146/https://www.pbs.org/video/antiques-roadshow-coming-up-monday-november-28th-at-87c-pm-madison-hour-1-1/ |date=August 1, 2020 }} ''Antiques Roadshow'' (airdate: February 15, 2010); retrieved April 18, 2020</ref><ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/madison_200903A49_ss.html#0 Antiques Roadshow Frank Sinatra Signed Letter] Retrieved December 3, 2011.</ref> Carlson consigned the letter to [[Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers|Freeman's]], which auctioned it in 2010.<ref>[https://nypost.com/2009/10/28/antique-inatra-letter/ "'Antique' $inatra Letter"] ''[[New York Post]]'' (October 28, 2009); retrieved April 18, 2020</ref>

Like some other columnists, Royko created fictitious [[persona]]e with whom he could "converse," the most famous being Slats Grobnik, a comically stereotyped working class Polish-Chicagoan. Generally, the Slats Grobnik columns described two men discussing a current event in a Polish neighborhood bar. In 1973, Royko collected several of the Grobnik columns in a collection titled ''Slats Grobnik and Some Other Friends''. Another of Royko's characters was his pseudo-psychiatrist Dr. I. M. Kookie (eponymous protagonist of ''Dr. Kookie, You're Right!'' [1989]). Dr. Kookie, purportedly the founder of the Asylumism religion – according to which Earth was settled by a higher civilization's rejected insane people – satirized pop culture and pop psychology. Through his columns, Royko helped make his favorite after-work bar, the [[Billy Goat Tavern]], famous, and popularized the [[curse of the Billy Goat]]. Billy Goat's reciprocated by sponsoring the ''Daily News's'' [[16-inch softball|16-inch softball team]] and featuring Royko's columns on their walls.<ref>[http://www.billygoattavern.com/history.html Billy Goat Tavern History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915070621/http://www.billygoattavern.com/history.html |date=September 15, 2008 }}</ref>

Royko's columns were syndicated country-wide in more than 600 newspapers. He produced more than 7,500 columns in a four-decade career. He also wrote or compiled dozens of "That's Outrageous!" columns for ''[[Reader's Digest]]''.{{citation needed|date = November 2020}}

By the 1990s he turned to national themes, often taking a [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] perspective on issues, including gay rights.<ref>Terry Eastland, ed. ''Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994: A Critical Review of the Media'' (1994) p 305</ref>

==Personal life==
===Marriages===
Royko married Carol Duckman in 1954, and they had two sons, David and Robert.<ref name = Obit>{{cite news |first1 = Jerry|last1 = Crimmins|first2=Rick |last2=Kogan|url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-04-30-9704300351-story.html |title=Mike Royko 1932–1997: Newspaper legend Mike Royko dies, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist was the voice of Chicago for more than 30 years |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=1 |date=April 30, 1997 }}</ref> She suffered a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] and died on September 19, 1979, Royko's 47th birthday.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths last week |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=B17 |date=September 23, 1979 }}</ref><ref name = Obit/> He later described that time as "a period of disintegration."<ref name = Obit/> The only column he wrote during that period was a short note to readers on October 5, 1979, in which Royko wrote, "We met when she was 6 and I was 9. Same neighborhood street. Same grammar school. So if you ever have a 9-year-old son who says he is in love, don't laugh at him. It can happen."<ref name = Obit/> That column ended with a much-remembered line: "If there's someone you love but haven't said so in a while, say it now. Always, always, say it now."<ref name = Obit/>

In 1986, Royko married Judy Arndt, who had worked as the head of the ''Sun-Times'' public service office and was a tennis instructor.<ref name = Obit/> The couple lived on Chicago's Northwest Side and then on the city's North Side before moving to [[Winnetka, Illinois]].<ref name = Obit/> He and Judy had two children.<ref name = Obit/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-07 |title=Chicago election results: Ald. La Spata 'encouraged' by slim margin in 1st Ward, wary of mail-ins |url=https://abc7chicago.com/daniel-la-spata-chicago-city-council-sam-royko-election-results/12924594/ |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}</ref>

===Baseball and Chicago Cubs===
Royko was a fervent devotee of [[16-inch softball]] as a player and team sponsor.  After his death, he was inducted into the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame, an honor Royko's family insists he would have considered as meaningful as his Pulitzer. In the closing seconds of ''Royko at the Goat'', the documentary by Scott Jacobs, Royko is heard saying, "The Pulitzer Prize can't compare" to hitting a home run.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} 

Royko was a life-long fan and critic of the [[Chicago Cubs]]. Every spring he would devote a column to a "Cubs Quiz," posing obscure trivia questions about mediocre Cubs players from his youth, such as [[Heinz Becker]] and [[Dom Dallessandro]]. Just prior to the [[1990 World Series]], he wrote about the findings of another fan, Ron Berler, who had discovered a [[spurious correlation]] called the "[[Ex-Cubs Factor]]." Berler and Royko predicted that the heavily favored [[Oakland Athletics]], who had a "critical mass" of ex-Cubs players on their Series roster, would lose the championship to the [[Cincinnati Reds]]. The Reds achieved an upset outcome in a four-game sweep of the A's, with Royko's sponsorship propelling the Ex-Cubs Factor theory into the spotlight. [[Carl Erskine]] repeats Royko's claim of the Ex-Cubs Factor, and applies it to the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|1951 Dodgers]], in his book ''Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout.''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2xNTKhH1E0C&pg=PA36|title=Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodger Dugout|first=Carl|last=Erskine|date=June 1, 2003|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|isbn=9781582613413|access-date=July 6, 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Death==
On April 22, 1997, Royko was admitted to [[NorthShore University HealthSystem#Evanston Hospital|Evanston Hospital]] after experiencing chest pains.<ref name = Obit/> He was later transferred to [[Northwestern Memorial Hospital]] in Chicago, and had surgery for an aneurysm; he died there from heart failure on April 29, at the age of 64.<ref name = Obit/> His body is entombed in Acacia Mausoleum, [[Acacia Park Cemetery, Norwood Park Township|Acacia Park Cemetery]], just outside Chicago.

==Honors and legacy==
* Royko won the National Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990 and the Damon Runyon Award in 1995.
* [[John Belushi]]’s character in the 1981 film [[Continental Divide (film)|Continental Divide]] is modelled after Royko. (Belushi was a reader of Royko’s column and occasionally met the journalist at his father’s restaurant on [[North Avenue (Chicago)|North Avenue]].)
* The "Royko Arrival"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://airnav.com/airport/KORD#ifr|title=AirNav: KORD – Chicago O'Hare International Airport|website=Airnav.com|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref> was an [[Instrument Flight Rules|IFR]] [[Standard terminal arrival route|arrival procedure]] used at [[O'Hare International Airport]] until 2013, when it was replaced by VEECK ONE.
* Mike Royko was inducted as a Laureate of [[The Lincoln Academy of Illinois]] and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1983 in the area of Communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/4632-2/#toggle-id-33|title=Laureate Convocations by Year – The Lincoln Academy of Illinois|website=Thelincolnacademyofillinois.org|access-date=July 6, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204516/http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/4632-2/#toggle-id-33|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*In 2011, Royko was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/mike-royko |title=Mike Royko |year=2011 |website=Chicago Literary Hall of Fame  |access-date=October 14, 2017}}</ref>
*The [[Newberry Library]] hosted an exhibition entitled "Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism" (June 20 - September 28, 2024).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exhibitions |url=https://www.newberry.org/calendar/exhibitions |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Newberry Library |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Edgar |first=Hannah |date=2024-05-29 |title=Museums for summer 2024: After-hours parties at the Shedd and a Holocaust Museum debut |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/05/29/museums-for-summer-2024-after-hours-parties-at-the-shedd-and-a-holocaust-museum-debut/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
*Mitchell Bisschop created a one-man show in 2022 entitled “Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago,” which had its Chicago premiere at the Chopin Theatre in September of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-21 |title=One-man show 'Toughest Man in Chicago' brings Mike Royko back to the city |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/21/mike-royko-chicago-one-man-show/ |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tomeo |first=Marissa |title=Dean Winkleson Brings World Premiere of THE TOUGHEST MAN IN CHICAGO to 2022 Hollywood Fringe |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/Dean-Winkleson-Brings-World-Premiere-of-THE-TOUGHEST-MAN-IN-CHICAGO-to-2022-Hollywood-Fringe-20220514 |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Books==
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1967|title=Up Against It|publisher=H. Regnery}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1968|title=I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It|url=https://archive.org/details/imaybewrongbutid00royk|url-access=registration|publisher=H. Regnery}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|title=Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago|edition=Plume reprint|year=1971|publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-452-26167-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1973|title=Slats Grobnik and Some Other Friends|publisher=Popular Library|isbn=978-0-525-20495-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1983|title=Sez Who? Sez Me|publisher=Warner Books|edition=reprint|isbn=0-446-30896-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1985|title=Like I Was Sayin|publisher=Jove Books|edition=reprint|isbn=0-515-08416-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVoSAQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=1989|title=Dr. Kookie, You're Right|publisher=Dutton|edition=EP Dutton|isbn=0-525-24813-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/drkookieyourerig00royk|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=2000|title=One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko|publisher=The University Of Chicago Press|isbn= 0-226-73072-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXc6IS_OHrAC}} With a Foreword by [[Studs Terkel]]. Three columns excerpted from the book.
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=2001|title=For the Love of Mike: More of the Best of Mike Royko|publisher=The University Of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-73073-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/forloveofmikemor0000royk|url-access=registration}} With a Foreword by [[Roger Ebert]]. Four columns excerpted from the book.
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=2010|title=Early Royko: Up Against It in Chicago|publisher=The University Of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73077-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1BIv8tPWggC}} A reprint of ''Up Against It'' with a Foreword by [[Rick Kogan]]
*{{cite book|last=Royko|first=Mike|year=2010|title=Royko in Love: Mike's Letters to Carol|publisher=The University Of Chicago Press|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qCjj3FWtKuwC | isbn=978-0-226-73078-3}} Edited by David Royko. A website for the book.

==See also==
* [[List of newspaper columnists]]
* [https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/283 Mike Royko's papers] are held by the [[Newberry Library]] in Chicago.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Ciccone|first=F. Richard|year=2003|title=Royko: A Life in Print|publisher=Public Affairs|isbn=1-58648-172-X |url=https://archive.org/details/royko00fric|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last=Moe|first=Doug|year=1999|title=The World of Mike Royko|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0-299-16540-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JdjKyGmDIoC}}
*{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/id/23389/|magazine=Slate|title=I Like Mike|first=Jacob|last=Weisberg|date=April 11, 1999|access-date=September 9, 2009}}
*{{cite news|last=Terry|first=Don|date=April 30, 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/30/us/mike-royko-the-voice-of-the-working-class-dies-at-64.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Mike Royko, the Voice of the Working Class, Dies at 64|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}
*{{cite book
  | last =Terkel
  | first =Studs
  | author-link =Studs Terkel
  |author2=Sydney Lewis
   | title =Touch and Go, A Memoir
  | publisher =The New Press
  | year =2007
  | pages =269
  | isbn =978-1595584113
 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=zKqNPwAACAAJ
  }}

==External links==
*[http://www.suntimes.com/news/royko/index.html Mike Royko] ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''
*[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2009/Royko-in-Love/ Royko in Love] in ''[[Chicago Magazine]]'', March 2009
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060816044904/http://www.theweekbehind.com/TV.html Royko at The Goat] video interview on 16-inch softball
*[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/730735.html Collection of columns] including Ex-Cubs Factor
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060518181018/http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/2001/ihy011215.html Illinois History]
*{{Find a Grave|13283881}}
*[https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/283 Mike Royko Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois]
*{{YouTube|zIazDmjKGbU|Studs Terkel and Mike Royko at a Chicago Bar}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120301062703/http://www.mediaburn.org/Video-Preview.128.0.html?&uid=2240.html Studs Terkel and Mike Royko at a Chicago Bar] Full Video
*[http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mike-royko-early-work-love-letters-carol-duckman/Content?oid=2271947 Even Earlier Royko] O'Hare News columns from 1955
*{{C-SPAN|16172}}
*[http://davidroyko.com/mikeroykoindex.htm List of print and video resources on Mike] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806020926/https://davidroyko.com/mikeroykoindex.htm |date=August 6, 2020 }}, compiled by his son David Royko
*[https://vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20%28Mike%29%20Royko FBI Records: The Vault – Michael (Mike) Royko] at fbi.gov

{{Chicago Cubs}}
{{PulitzerPrize Commentary 1970–1975}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Royko, Mike}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American columnists]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American people of Polish descent]]
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[[Category:Burials at Acacia Park Cemetery, Norwood Park Township]]
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[[Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States]]
[[Category:Ernie Pyle Award winners]]
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[[Category:New Times magazine (1973-1979)]]
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