Remembering The Passed

Remembering Rip Torn, Jim Bouton, The Chicago Defender, and Gene Pingatore Rip Torn was the actor from the Actors Studio who went on to a memorable, but tempestuous, career in television and the movies. A combative free spirit in real life, he is best known for his recurring role on television in The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998) and in movies such as Men in Black (1997) and Dodgeball (2004). Jim Bouton was the fastballing pitcher for the 1960’s New York Yankees, who went on to be more famous for his behind the scenes look at baseball in his 1970 memoir Ball Four. The Chicago Defender was the prominent newspaper for African-Americans in Chicago and across the South from 1905 until it closed its print edition in 2019. Gene Pingatore was the most successful high school boys basketball coach in Illinois history. He was also featured prominently in the 1994 movie Hoop Dreams.