Cindy Pritzker stands beneath a portrait of her that hangs at Cindy’s Rooftop restaurant. She turned 100 in December.
Provided
Cindy, who???
A Chicago legend turned 100 last week.
That would be Cindy Pritzker, the indomitable matriarch of the Pritzker Hotel clan.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Cindy is philanthropic; the doyenne of the Pritzker Architecture Prize; the formidable former head of the Chicago Public Library; and the subject of an Andy Warhol portrait that now hangs in the Chicago Athletic Association hotel’s rooftop lounge.
And yes, Cindy is an adored mother of four, Gigi, Tom, John and Dan; grandmother of 14; and a beloved aunt. (Just ask Gov. J.B. Pritzker and first lady M.K. Pritzker.)
So it came to pass last week that “Cindy the Centenarian” was feted privately with a “hot mike” by 30 family members and 10 friends on a warm December night at Riccardo Trattoria, a favorite family restaurant; surrounding their triple-digit doyenne with love, Cindy’s favorite pink peonies — and anything chocolate for dessert.
“My mother is much loved, still with it, and sharp as a tack for her age, but she has always been quite a character,” chuckled Cindy’s daughter, Gigi Pritzker Pucker, a film producer and co-founder of Odd Lot Entertainment. “That’s what makes her so special; a tomboy growing up on Chicago’s South Side in Hyde Park; very much in awe of her father, Circuit Court Judge Hugo Friend,” said Gigi. “She adored him, her best pal.”
Hmmm. Did I tell you Cindy once wore a pair of boots with a hidden compartment for a pocket knife when she was a little girl?
“I never used it,” Cindy confided to me once during a private cocktail party nearly a decade ago. “But I liked the fact it was there.”
Hmmm. Did I mention Cindy had her ears pierced for the first time when she was 80 years old? And got her first tattoo when she was 90?
“Some of her grandchildren went with her,” chuckled Gigi.
Hmmm. Did I mention Cindy now adores the Ms. Pac-Man game in contrast to the male Pac-Man version and plays it at 6 several nights a week accompanied by a cigarette and a glass of wine?
“Well, my mother would not consider herself a feminist, but she is very pro-woman,” added Gigi.
Hmmm. Did I mention Cindy holds the family record for swearing and can dangle an unlit cigarette from her lips as long as it takes to tell a story?
“It’s pretty amazing,” chuckled Gigi. “But mother’s response to the doctor stating: ‘Let’s address this issue of smoking’ was always: ‘Let’s not!’ ”
It’s no secret Cindy Pritzker was a power machine; a petite Chicago dynamo for decades who got things done brooking no nonsense with savvy; the depth of her purse; and Cindy “no girlie-girl” charm.
She may have been named “Marion” at birth, who wound up with a “Cinderella” nickname.
But I have a personal “Cindy” story.
Late one December nearly a decade ago, Cindy rang me up.
“I just read your column and I think you are in need of some fun,” growled Cindy, inviting me to a New Year’s Eve dinner.
Yipes! Dinner? Dress up? Gads!
Thus, it came to pass, the “party” of five consisted of three of Cindy’s beloved buddies; all arriving in plump winter gear; sliding into Cindy’s favorite booth at Joe’s Stone Crab downtown. A booth? Joe’s Stone Crab?
No dress up. No airs. Just chuckle and chat and stories of young wives raising families; yummy buddy banter with Cindy’s oldest friend, “Bootsy” Nathan, who died this year.
“A great loss for my mother,” said Gigi. “Bootsy’s daughter, Lizzie, was like a sister to me,” said Gigi.
Thus, New Year’s Eve years ago with Cindy and her pals was magic. No fuss. No nonsense. No fancy clothes. Girls again ... swapping tales from the front lines years ago. Laughing. Chuckling. Chortling amid being served Joe’s cold Stone Crab claws. These were her forever friends.
Cindy is still smoking a cigarette or two … and making every second look like a Marlene Dietrich film classic moment.
But let’s give Gigi the last word.
“Mother is the coolest thing in the world,” added Gigi. “We are so lucky we still have her.”
Amen. And happy birthday … dear Cindy!
T’was the day before Christmas.’
And here we are again.
Smack dab in the middle of a world as it’s always been; a muddle of conflict and compassion; chaos and contentment; crisis and cheerfulness.
And at times … “you gotta be kidding!”
But obi-gosh, bi-golly, if ever we needed a time out for mistletoe and holly mixed with prayers for peace and understanding, it’s now.
It isn’t often that I do a Christmas column, but it’s pretty obvious we all need a break from the war of words separating our nation; as well as a day of reckoning with the misery on our doorsteps: migrants, fleeing misery and oppression, bused to “sanctuary” cities in America unprepared to give them sanctuary.
So if the season of Christmas is indeed a tiny patch of time when the world seems in love, let’s have at it, Chicago.
Let’s show the world this city has more than big shoulders.
How about a bigger heart.
Saturday birthdays: Eddie Vedder, (nee Edward Louis Severson III), 59, and Susan Lucci, 77. Sunday birthdays: Dr. Anthony Fauci, 83, Ricky Martin, 52, and Ryan Seacrest, 49. … And finally a few Christmas birthdays: Sissy Spacek, 74, Annie Lennox, 69, and my friend and former office mate Bill Zwecker, ageless and priceless.
