Columnist, Character, Icon: Chicago's Mike Royko Dies -- From Daley's Office To Billy Goat Tavern, City Mourns Newspaperman Who Defined It

CHICAGO - For generations of newspaper readers, Mike Royko embodied the gritty, no-nonsense voice of Chicago's working class.

He delighted in exposing greed and absurdity at the highest levels, never letting anyone off easy. His readers responded by eagerly turning to his column, wondering who would be his next target.

Mr. Royko's death yesterday at age 64 closed an era in Chicago journalism.

"He's an icon to many of us, and his loss is something that hit us pretty hard," said Howard Tyner, editor of the Chicago Tribune, where Mr. Royko's column appeared on Page 3. The Pulitzer Prize-winner was syndicated to more than 600 newspapers nationwide, including The Seattle Times.

The Tribune today devoted Mr. Royko's traditional column space to reflections from his readers, and one chose to honor Mr. Royko's fictitious blue-collar alter ego from the Polish neighborhood where Mr. Royko grew up.

"Somewhere, Slats Grobnik sits alone on a bar stool, sobbing upon the loss of a legend," wrote James Mertes of Rock Falls.

Mr. Royko died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery last week for an aneurysm, a rupture or weakening of a blood vessel. Earlier this month, he underwent surgery in Florida for an aneurysm. At that time, doctors found evidence of a previous stroke.

Mr. Royko's words were a cornerstone of the daily newspaper, first in the now-defunct Chicago Daily News, later with the Chicago Sun-Times and since 1984 with the Tribune.

Mr. Royko gained stature as a critic of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley at a time when most prominent Chicagoans treated Daley with cautious respect. Mr. Royko's 1971 biography, "Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago," portrayed Daley as a shrewd, autocratic politician who tolerated racism and corruption.

"Through the years my family filled many of his columns, some critical and some supportive, but whether you agreed with him or not, you had to respect his honesty and his love for the city," Daley's son, Mayor Richard M. Daley, said yesterday.

Mr. Royko tempered his political commentary with observations on news, social trends, the Chicago Cubs and the foibles of everyday life. Many were presented in imagined conversations with Slats Grobnik.

Mr. Royko is survived by his wife, Judy, four children and four grandchildren. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A sample of his words

"Defining a hangover is simple. It's nature's way of telling you that you got drunk. I've never understood why nature goes to the bother, since millions of wives pass on the information."

"For every honest, inoffensive, harmless citizen, there is a bureaucrat waiting to goof him up."

"Greed is what made this country great. Never mind the spirit of adventure, the earliest explorers came here to find something that belonged to somebody else and grab it."

On a photograph of the Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus poking a finger in another football player's eye: "My question was what he intended to do with the eye had he plucked it from the man's head. Would he triumphantly slam it to the ground in the end zone as some players do when they have scored? Or would he hold it above his head and do a joyous war dance as others do after a touchdown?"

"This town was built by great men who demanded that drunkards and harlots be arrested while charging them rent until the cops arrived."

On the Vietnam War: "If we insist on looking for something of value in this war, then maybe it is this: Maybe we finally have the painful knowledge that we can never again believe everything our leaders tell us." Associated Press