Northlight Theatre Celebrates the 1985 Chicago Bears with a Special One-Night-Only Event with Author Rich Cohen Today

Executive Director Tim Evans and Artistic Director BJ Jones announce a special literary event with author Rich Cohen in celebration of his new release Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football. The one-night-only event with the New York Times bestselling author takes place at 7:00pm tonight, November 25, 2013 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.

There is a suggested donation of $10 at the door for general seating. Reservations are recommended, and may be made at northlight.org/bears.

Members of the 1985 Chicago Bears team are expected to attend. The reading and discussion will be followed by a book signing of Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, ISBN, 9780374298685. Books, $26, will be made available for purchase by The Book Cellar at the event.

Rich Cohen, a New York Times bestselling author, grew up on the North Shore of Chicago, where he died with the Cubs and was reborn with the Bears. He has written ten books and a host of magazine articles for, among others, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, and Vanity Fair, where he is a contributing editor. Cohen has won the Great Lakes Book Award and the Chicago Public Library's 21st Century Award, and his essays have been included in The Best American Essays and The Best American Travel Writing. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three sons, but is plotting his return to Chicagoland.

Tim Evans comments, "Northlight is thrilled to celebrate the legacy of the Chicago Bears with this special literary event. We applaud Chicago native Rich Cohen for his fascinating book about this legendary piece of Chicago sports history. It promises to be a lively evening of storytelling and insight into the famous and infamous 1985 Super Bowl Champions."

Cohen's newest book, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football is a gripping account of a once-in-a-lifetime football team and their lone championship season. For Rich Cohen and millions of other fans, the 1985 Chicago Bears were more than a football team: they were the greatest football team ever-a gang of colorful nuts, dancing and pounding their way to victory. They won a Super Bowl and saved a city.

It was not just that the Monsters of the Midway won, but how they did it. On offense, there was high-stepping running back Walter Payton and Punky QB Jim McMahon, who had a knack for pissing off Coach Mike Ditka as he made his way to the end zone. On defense, there was the 46: a revolutionary, quarterback-concussing scheme cooked up by Buddy Ryan and ruthlessly implemented by Hall of Famers such as Dan "Danimal" Hampton and "Samurai" Mike Singletary. On the sidelines, in the locker rooms, and in bars, there was the never-ending soap opera: the coach and the quarterback bickering on TV, Ditka and Ryan nearly coming to blows in the Orange Bowl, The Players recording the "Super Bowl Shuffle" video the morning after the season's only loss.

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.

Now in its 39th season, the organization under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J Evans has mounted nearly 200 productions, including over 40 world premieres. Northlight has earned 151 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 28 Awards. As one of the area's premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.

Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from The Allyn Foundation; Arts Midwest; Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP; BMO Harris Bank; Draft FCB; the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays Award; Ernst & Young; Evanston Community Foundation; Gand Music & Sound; The Homestead Hotel; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Irving Harris Foundation; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Madison Dearborn Partners; Melvoin Award for Playwriting; Modestus Bauer Foundation; North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Foundation; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; Pioneer Press; Quince at the Homestead; Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation; Room & Board; Sanborn Family Foundation; Shubert Foundation; Skokie Fine Arts Council; Sullivan Family Foundation; Target; and Tom Stringer Design Partners.

To post a comment, you must register and login.