Northern IlliNOISE

About the Book

There’s noise. And then, there’s “Northern IlliNOISE” — the sounds of which are unlike anything else that you’ll encounter.

Anywhere.

Take Dave Wischnowsky’s word for that. Because, from August 2002 to July 2005, the author of the popular “Wisch List” column for The Daily Times — a newspaper located in the picturesque town of Ottawa in the heart of North Central Illinois — did nothing but listen to those sounds.

And then wrote about every dang story he heard.

In “Northern IlliNOISE: Tales of a Territory,” follow Wischnowsky as he chronicled life — and the people who live it — in and around La Salle County in north central Illinois.

Featured in "Northern IlliNOISE" are 75 of the versatile Wischnowsky´s award-winning "Wisch List" columns, which cover any and every topic under the sun. From the inspirational to the silly, from the hapless Chicago Cubs to the University of Illinois´ rollicking basketball program, to the rich history and geography of Northern Illinois, it can all be found — along with much, much more — in "Northern IlliNOISE."

Included among the book´s scads of terrific tales is the powerful legend of former Ottawa Township High School student Mark Wiebe, a young man diagnosed shortly after birth with the debilitating disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which left him for the most part paralyzed — and his body weighing only 40 pounds.

In spite of his limitations, however, nothing could keep the wheelchair-bound, but utterly-irrepressible Mark — and his beloved marbles — from carrying more weight in the hearts of others than an entire army of able-bodied men. Mark´s amazing spirit and story touched thousands both before — and after — his death at the age of 17 in June 2003.

Through "Northern IlliNOISE," you´re also invited to follow Wischnowsky, a former award-winning sports writer, as he followed his beloved Chicago Cubs on a wild, wacky, funny — and (big surprise) ultimately fruitless — cross-country journey through the 2003 and ´04 Major League Baseball seasons.

From Chicago to Miami to Atlanta to Milwaukee to Denver ... to Despair, Wischnowsky was there for the Cubs´ entire comitragic playoff run of 2003. And then back again for their high hopes — and, of course, ultimate heartbreak — during the wild summer of 2004.

In addition to Wischnowsky´s array of "Wisch List" columns, "Northern IlliNOISE" also includes the remarkable tale of "Pilgrim George," a man with a gray, waistlong beard, denim robe and wooden staff who, for the past 34 years, has been walking the earth on a neverending pilgrimage in the name of Jesus Christ.

An astounding story of faith, determination and courage, Pilgrim George — who has no job, no money, no family and no home — relies on the goodwill of others and the grace of God each day as he fulfills the calling he said he received from the Lord more than three decades ago.

The 29-year-old Wischnowsky is the winner of a total of 18 editorial awards from 2001-05, including six first-places and one Top 10 National.

Through his "Wisch List" columns — and now through "Northern IlliNOISE" — Wischnowsky has touched lives, moved hearts, and tickled funny bones with a style and passion for writing unlike anything you´ll find elsewhere.

So, c´mon ... feel the ’NOISE.

About the Author

DAVE WISCHNOWSKY, a 1998 graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with a degree in print journalism, is the features editor and general-interest columnist at The Daily Times in Ottawa, Ill. Formerly a sports writer, Wischnowsky, a native of Bourbonnais, Ill., is the winner of 16 national, regional and editorial awards since 2001. His weekly column for the Daily Times, called the “Wisch List,” focuses on the people, the places, the things — the who-knows-what — of Ottawa, La Salle County, and beyond. “Northern IlliNOISE: Tales of a Territory” is Wischnowsky’s first book.