The Loop District in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Irv Kupcinet
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 30, 2024
1. Irv Kupcinet Marker
"Irv Kupcinet, 'Mr. Chicago,' embodied the city he loved with all his energy and enthusiasm. In his Chicago Sun-Times column and on his television shows, Kup was honest, accurate and fair, and his commitment to charity was one we should all aspire to match."
- Mayor Richard M. Daley
Erected 2006 by Kupcinet Family & Friends; City of Chicago.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Communications.
Location. 41° 53.259′ N, 87° 37.571′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in The Loop District. It is on East Wacker Drive near North Wabash Avenue, on the right. The statue and marker are a short walk east of the Wabash Avenue Bridge over the Chicago River. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Chicago IL 60601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Chicago Riverwalk (within shouting distance of this marker); Mather Tower (within shouting distance of this marker); Heald Square Monument (within shouting distance of this marker); Chicago Remembers (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); 35 East Wacker Drive Building (about 400 feet away); Trump International Hotel & Tower (about 400 feet away); Old Fort Dearborn (about 400 feet away); Bataan- Corregidor Memorial Bridge (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.
More about this marker. The list of "friends" responsible for this statue and plaque include many dignitaries in the Chicago sports and entertainment world, among them the Crown family (decendants of the Chicago financier Henry Crown and a part owner of the Chicago Bulls basketball team); the Wirtz family (owners of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team); Jerry Reinsdorf (controlling partner of the Bulls and baseball's Chicago White Sox);
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 30, 2024
2. Irv Kupcinet statue
The statue overlooks the site of the Chicago Sun-Times headquarters, the squat, boxy building that sat alongside the Chicago River's north bank from 1955 until 2004, when it was torn down and replaced a few years later by the Trump International Tower & Hotel. Nearby, the Wabash Avenue Bridge was renamed the Irv Kupcinet Bridge in 1986, as noted on a few plaques.
Regarding Irv Kupcinet. Irv Kupcinet was a newspaper columnist and TV and radio personality. Born and raised in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood, Kupcinet played football at Northwestern and North Dakota and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1935. Pro Football Reference says he appeared in two games in 1935; his career ended when he suffered a shoulder injury. Kupcinet returned home and worked as a sportswriter for the Chicago Daily News, where he later began a regular gossip column about local nightlife, celebrities and political figures. Eventually known as "Kup's Column" it ran for six decades in the Daily News and later the Sun-Times, with his final column appearing the week of his
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 30, 2024
3. Irv Kupcinet Marker
A rear view of the statue shows the Trump Tower (left), site of the Sun-Times headquarters from 1955 to 2004; beyond the statue to its right are the Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower.
Also see . . .
1. New York Times: Irv Kupcinet obituary. The article ran on November 11, 2003.
Excerpt: "Mr. Kupcinet was possessed of an old-fashioned love for a particular kind of old-fashioned journalism and for a particular city, Chicago, and its feistiness, its turmoil and occasional bawdiness. He liked to recite a saying attributed to a Midwestern farm boy leaving home: 'Goodbye, God, we're going to Chicago.'"(Submitted on October 31, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. The Lost World of Kup. In this 2004 article, Chicago magazine looks back at Irv Kupcinet's famed column and the era it came from. (Submitted on October 31, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 30, 2024
4. Irv Kupcinet statue's rear plaque
On the rear base is a plaque for the statue itself, which was designed by Preston Jackson.
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 30, 2024
5. Irv Kupcinet Bridge
A marker for the renaming of the Wabash Avenue Bridge after columnist and TV host Irv Kupcinet.
Photographed by Alan Light (via Wikimedia Commons), March 26, 1990
6. Irv Kupcinet at the 1990 Academy Awards show
Credits. This page was last revised on March 13, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 31, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 2,078 times since then and 1,240 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 31, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 6. submitted on November 7, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
