My New Trier High School Class of 1972 had to write a major research paper on a topic of our choice during our junior year. I decided to write about the modern women’s liberation movement. My sources were the works of feminist thinkers and artists. Many of my classmates knew me as a “women’s libber,” which was not necessarily a term of endearment.
Shortly after senior year, Ms. magazine hit the newsstands. It was the first women’s magazine run entirely by women, with content that did not include recipes, household cleaning tips and advice columns. I was excited, scared, not sure who I was or what I wanted out of life as I went off for college. But I had Ms. magazine in my hand, and I knew one thing: I was a feminist.
And as a feminist, I could have a career and get married and have children — or not— because Gloria Steinem said so. She was a journalist, philosopher, activist, publisher and an inspiration to me every day.
I majored in women’s history at Duke University and secured an internship at the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organization Steinem co-founded. Soon after, I became a lobbyist for the National Organization for Women, and my first real boyfriend had been an organizer with Ralph Nader in Michigan. He was very supportive of my feminist ways, as long as they didn’t interfere with his dreams.
After seven years in Washington, D.C., I met and got some advice from a woman who was a lawyer, activist and lesbian. She told me that I could have a great career as a nonprofit leader if that’s what I wanted. But she said if I wanted to go into business, I had to go for it immediately. In three to four years, I’d be too old and experienced for an entry-level job and would never be able to break into corporate America, she told me.
I moved back to Chicago, got a job at Leo Burnett, got married, had children and hung on to my feminist values. I married a man who accepted me for who I am and did not think his life and his dreams were more important than mine.
I can’t think of another public figure who had more impact on my life than Steinem. She was there for me at every important move, decision and action. Rest in peace my friend who I never met. I’m forever grateful for your life and its impact on mine.
Nina Abnee, Avondale
Chicago’s star turn
This fall, I’ll begin production on a short film with a diverse cast and crew entirely from the Chicago area, including the film’s creator and director, Nathan L. Marquez. It’s a relief knowing there are no flights to book. Every actor lives within an hour of set. Every filming location is within driving distance. Ten years ago that would have been a compromise. Today it’s a flex.
As an independent filmmaker, I’m seeing a revival in the Midwest. For a growing number of productions and independent storytellers, Chicago isn’t the alternative to Hollywood. It’s the first call.
People often forget Chicago was a hub for the film industry before Los Angeles. Through film, the city made an indelible mark on the world, but then the business went West, chasing weather and cheap land.
In recent years, I’ve seen a resurgence like never before, incentivizing independent filmmakers to return to this great city and nurture homegrown talent.
Last year, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an expansion of the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit Act, offering producers credit of 35% of all qualified Illinois spending.
There’s also 5% additional credit available for productions that meet sustainability certification requirements. Best of all, the minimum spending amount to qualify was lowered to $100,000 for productions over 30 minutes and $50,000 for productions under 30 minutes.
That number isn’t aimed at Dick Wolf-sized productions. It’s aimed at independent production companies like mine and independent producers with scripts waiting to be brought to life.
As a result, Illinois film production spending hit a record $703 million in 2025, up 25% from 2019. Industry wages rose from $350 million to $401 million, and local hires climbed from 15,200 to 18,100.
I believe the renaissance for independent Chicago storytelling is beginning, through the emerging independent film scene. With these incentives, the settings, stars and storytellers from the Chicago area are finally being spotlighted once again.
Thomas Z. Seffernick, founder, Z Marc Productions
Let them build
As a young zoning lawyer in 1980, I witnessed the battle over proposed development at Sheridan Road and Thorndale Avenue.
Now as an Edgewater resident, I experience the results of NIMBY’s success in that fight: a lushly landscaped pocket park that few people use and no woman will cross at night fearing what might lurk in the bushes. Public safety would have been better served by more housing and foot traffic.
The neighborhood group protesting Emanuel Congregation’s mixed-use development has also opposed every other proposal to create desperately needed housing. Apparently, the ideal neighborhood is one that let them in and then slammed the door behind them.
Friends of the Parks is organized to maximize park area in the city. This worthy goal seems to blind the group to the fact that Edgewater isn’t short of parks; it’s short of housing.
Legislation known as YIGBY (Yes In God’s Back Yard) would allow houses of worship to build housing on their spare land without being subjected to the death by a thousand cuts now facing Emanuel Congregation. I urge Illinois lawmakers to pass the legislation, and I urge my neighbors to get the hell out of the way.
Kelly Kleiman, Edgewater