Remembering ‘The Coconut,’ a real Chicago character

Frank Coconate, a political gadfly from the Daley era, refused to be another ‘yes-man’ in the precincts. In this photo from April 19, 2020, Coconate demands the evacuation of homes near the Crawford Coal Plant after it was imploded. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

At first, I couldn’t be sure Frank Coconate was real.

When I began covering City Hall about 20 years ago, there was practically no other City of Chicago employee (aldermen included) who would publicly criticize Mayor Richard M. Daley. But Coconate was constantly calling reporters, begging us to cover him.