Fleshing out the story

Recalling the time a photograph of his Cubs tattoo helped capture the personality of an intriguing political newcomer.

Eye-catching photos are a print journalist’s best friend, drawing the reader into the story while fleshing out an element or two contained in the piece.

I learned this the hard way in December 1991, in my first year as a reporter for The Courier News in Elgin, Illinois. After getting wind of a car chase and shootout between police and bookstore owners/bank robbers Jeff and Jill Erickson, I drove to the scene, which was an intersection that I passed every day to the office.

It was in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation and I concluded, “Nothing much to see here.”

I took some lame photos with my camera, but didn’t know what to look for or what I was doing. The images all proved useless. The next day, after my story was published, an editor urged me to call the newsroom to have a photographer come out in those types of situations.

Even if they hadn’t been able to get compelling shots like what the Chicago Tribune secured for its front page (below), they’d have gotten something that would have been serviceable for print.

Over a dozen years later, covering the colorful and long-notorious town of Cicero (where Al Capone had his headquarters and government corruption had long been rampant) for the Tribune, I wrote about Larry Dominick as an early-bird candidate for town president.

My most frequent photographic partner in those days was Antonio Perez. On this assignment, as usual, Tony stepped up. I wasn’t on hand for the photo shoot, so I don’t know if the moment required much coaxing, but Dominick rolled up his sleeve to show his Cubs tattoo.

Among other qualities, the photo captured Dominick’s larger-than-life personality as well as his passion for baseball–especially, of course, the Chicago Cubs.

Earlier, when we met at a restaurant for the interview, Dominick congratulated me on the Red Sox finally winning it all after a 86-year drought. He also showed me his tat–which, upon further reflection, leads me to conclude that Tony didn’t need to prod Dominick much at all.

Just the same, a great shot.

Campaign Pledge vs. Elected Position

Interesting to note that my November 2004 story included Dominick, the candidate, pledging not to accept the pay raise that the Cicero Town Board had recently approved for themselves, effective the following year. That decision included a $30,000 hike for town president (de facto mayor), to over $164,000 annually.

After Dominick's election squeaker over incumbent Ramiro Gonzalez, a change of heart set in. Dominick accepted the pay raise, after all. Do the math: $30K x 20 years=a $600,000 difference.

Pretty pivotal pivot. Then again, tickets to Wrigley Field ain’t cheap. And based on Dominick’s re-election upon re-election (he’s now in his sixth four-year term), voters didn’t fault him, either.

Today, over 20 years after his emergence on the political scene, the Cubs have a World Series title under their belt, Dominick remains in charge in Cicero, and his political origin story can be traced to my article with that indelible image of the burly retired cop aiming for public office.

This column is an adaptation of an August 2022 blog post.