Bob Greene

Bob Greene – Life, Career, and Memorable Moments

Bob Greene (born March 10, 1947) is an American journalist and author best known for his long run as a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune. Explore his life story, writing style, controversies, and enduring impact.

Introduction

Bob Greene (Robert Bernard Greene, Jr.) is an American journalist and author whose work over decades connected deeply with readers through emotionally honest storytelling, reflections on everyday life, and engagement with public figures. Born in 1947, Greene became a prominent columnist in Chicago and beyond, publishing numerous books and earning both acclaim and critique. His career embodies both the power and pitfalls of personal journalism.

Early Life and Family

Robert Bernard Greene, Jr. was born on March 10, 1947, in Bexley, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus).

Growing up in Ohio, Greene was drawn to writing and storytelling from an early age. He kept a journal as a youth, which later became the source for his book Be True to Your School, in which he reconstructs his 1964 teenage experience.

Greene married Susan Bonet Koebel in 1971, and the couple had two children.

Youth and Education

Greene attended Northwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Journalism in 1969.

While still in his early career, Greene worked for the Chicago Sun-Times as a reporter and feature writer soon after graduation.

His early training in journalism and his inclination toward personal narrative came together in his work as a columnist, where he often wove personal reflection, social observation, and human-interest storytelling.

Career and Achievements

Rise in journalism

In the 1970s, Greene published his first book, We Didn’t Have None of Them Fat Funky Angels on the Wall of Heartbreak Hotel, a collection of magazine-length pieces and columns.

He moved to the Chicago Tribune in the late 1970s and became a syndicated columnist, writing for the Tribune for 24 years.

He also held columns and roles with Esquire (his “American Beat” column) and contributed to Life. Nightline.

Greene’s writing often focused not on headline news, but on the small, human stories—personal reflections, background characters, emotional resonance.

Books and themes

Greene is the author of more than 20 books. Some of his notable works:

• Be True to Your School: A Diary of 1964 (reconstructs his teenage year)

• Billion Dollar Baby (1974), a diary of touring with rock musician Alice Cooper

• Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan, later a bestseller

• Homecoming: When the Soldiers Returned from Vietnam (collection of letters and commentary)

• Duty: A Father, His Son, and The Man Who Won the War (mix of personal memoir and historical narrative)

• Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

• Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents

Many of his books are compilations of favorite columns, or expanded versions of personal or cultural stories touched on in his journalism.

Awards & recognition

• In 1977, Greene won the National Headliner Award for best column in the U.S.

• In 1995, he was named Illinois Journalist of the Year, and awarded the Peter Lisagor Award for Public Service Journalism for reporting on courts failing children in need.

• His column with Chicago Tribune was syndicated widely; at one point his column appeared four times per week in the Tribune and in over 200 newspapers.

• Northwestern’s Medill School includes him in the Hall of Achievement.

Controversy and later career

In September 2002, Greene was forced to resign his Tribune column after admitting to an extramarital sexual relationship (later characterized as unconsummated) from 14 years earlier with a high school student whom he had written about in a column.

At the time, Greene stated the relationship had stopped short of intercourse and that he had declined to proceed further.

Shortly after his resignation, his wife Susan died of heart failure.

In the years following, Greene shifted toward writing books and essays, and contributing to online outlets such as

Historical Context & Impact

Greene’s career spanned the era when print journalism was dominant, and columns—personal, reflective, intimate—held substantial sway with readers. His style represented a blend of human-interest storytelling and cultural commentary grounded in emotion and memory.

He came up during a time when the national media landscape was becoming more consolidated and syndicated voices had broad reach; Greene managed to become one of those voices. Yet his approach differed from beat reporting or investigative journalism—he often engaged through personal narrative, nostalgia, and connection with readers’ lived experience.

His scandal in 2002 also exemplifies how the lines between personal and public life can be perilous for opinion writers whose credibility depends partly on integrity and relationship with readers.

Personality and Writing Style

Greene’s writing is often described as sentimental, introspective, and nostalgic. He had a knack for lifting ordinary moments into symbolic or emotional resonance.

While beloved by many readers, critics have sometimes labeled his work as overly sentimental, repetitive, or skewed toward his own perspective.

Greene also demonstrated courage in writing about illness, mortality, friendship, and parenthood—topics that many journalists avoid or treat abstractly.

Selected Quotes & Excerpts

While Bob Greene is not primarily known for pithy quotable aphorisms (unlike philosophers or poets), some lines and passages from his columns and books are often cited for their emotional impact and insight into human experience:

“Everyone was 17 once.”
— From Be True to Your School, reflecting on universal teenage emotions.

On writing: “I make mistakes. I get impatient. But I try to do my best to open a door for someone else to see something about life or about themselves that they didn’t see.”
— Paraphrase drawn from reflections in his essays and columns (often in interviews).

On memory and place: Greene often describes how physical settings—childhood houses, school hallways, hometowns—act as time machines, reviving emotional moments. (This is a recurring motif throughout Be True to Your School and other works.)

Lessons from His Life and Career

• Vulnerability in writing resonates. Greene’s willingness to expose emotion, memory, regret, and longing helped readers feel seen.

• Limits of personal journalism. Writers whose voice is personal walk a fine line: personal history, integrity, and judgment become central to public reception.

• Consistency with evolution. Greene shifted from newspaper columns to books and online contributions, adapting to changing media landscapes.

• The weight of trust. For opinion writers, reader trust is critical—and personal actions can deeply affect one’s capacity to speak with moral authority.

• The ordinary as portal. Greene’s power lay in showing how small moments—school dances, family meals, friendships—carry profound weight.

Conclusion

Bob Greene’s career illustrates both the power and the pitfalls of combining personal narrative with public commentary. His ability to touch readers’ hearts through lived detail made him a beloved columnist for many; yet the controversy that ended his column also reveals how closely a public writer’s personal life becomes entangled with professional credibility.

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