18 Facts About Bob Greene

Bob Greene worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was a columnist.

Bob Greene's book Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan became a bestseller.

Originally from Bexley, Ohio, Bob Greene attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and became a reporter and feature writer for the Chicago Sun-Times upon graduating in 1969, receiving a regular column in the paper within two years.

Bob Greene first drew significant national attention with his book Billion Dollar Baby, a diary of his experiences while touring with rock musician Alice Cooper and portraying Santa Claus during the show.

Bob Greene's primary focus remained his newspaper column, for which he won the National Headliner Award for best column in 1977 from an American journalism group.

Shortly afterward, Bob Greene was hired by Chicago Tribune and began making occasional guest appearances on local television, eventually landing a commentary slot on the ABC news program Nightline.

In January 1980, Bob Greene assisted Los Angeles Police in apprehending a man who had allegedly written letters to Bob Greene as well as to police threatening to go on a killing spree.

At that time Bob Greene's column appeared in approximately 120 newspapers, including one in the Los Angeles community of Huntington Park where the letter writer lived.

Bob Greene chronicled these events in his daily column as they occurred.

Bob Greene claimed that the biological parents, the Kirchners, did not respond to his requests for interviews.

Bob Greene was surprised when the Tribune told him his resignation was accepted, and the paper publicly stated that he had been dismissed for "abusing his position for his own benefit" but did not provide details at that point.

The woman with whom Bob Greene had a relationship was 17, legal age in Illinois, and had graduated from high school in the months between their first meeting and his invitation to take her out to dinner.

Bob Greene continues to write books and is a contributing writer to CNN.

Bob Greene's 2006 book, And You Know You Should Be Glad: A True Story of Lifelong Friendship, is a personal account of the illness and death of his lifelong friend Jack Roth at age 57.

Bob Greene met Jack in kindergarten, and they remained best friends for life.

Bob Greene's repetitive, rambling free associations recall everything from his Halloween costume and old songs to ice cream parlors, state fairs and clothing fads.

In 1977, Bob Greene won the National Headliner Award for writing the previous year's best column.

In 1995, Bob Greene was named Illinois Journalist of the Year.