Gather in the newsroom for a brief meeting

Chicago Sun-Times city editor Dick Mitchell (right) with Neil Steinberg at Steinberg’s 1990 wedding at the Hotel Intercontinental in Chicago. At the time, Steinberg, now a columnist, was a general assignment reporter. (Provided)

Harry Golden Jr. came striding into the fourth floor newsroom at 401 N. Wabash Ave. like a character from “Guys and Dolls.” The dean of the City Hall reporters, he looked sharp in a double-breasted pinstripe suit and well-shined shoes, the only jarring note his face, which looked like a skull. He was dying of cancer. We all knew it.

Why is he still here? I remember wondering, slumped in a corner of the vast expanse of metal desks and stacked newspapers. Me, I’d be anywhere else but here.