Retired photographer Steve Lasker, 78, at his home in Lincolnwood on Nov. 21, 2008, holding a photo he took during the fire at Our Lady of Angels grade school in Chicago on Dec. 1, 1958. One of the worst tragedies in Chicago’s history, the fire took the lives of 92 children and three nuns. (Bonnie Trafelet/Chicago Tribune)
Photos: Seeing Chicago through the eyes of photojournalist Steve Lasker
Steve Lasker, a pioneering photojournalist in Chicago, spent decades photographing the life in and around the city. From devastating tragedies like the fire at Our Lady of the Angels School to politics and sports, Lasker was always there to document. He was known as the man with the “golden eyes.”
President Kennedy looks at a point of interest pointed out by Mayor Richard J. Daley as they travel from airport to luncheon meeting on March 23, 1963. (Steve Lasker/Chicago’s American)Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus reacts during a game against the Minnesota Vikings in September 1969. Butkus is arguably one of the best linebackers ever to play, possessing strength, agility and quickness to cover running backs and tight ends on the same play. He played for the Bears from 1965 to 1973, making seven Pro Bowl teams, collecting 22 interceptions and recovering 27 fumbles. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Today)
Children of the Paley family in Skokie mark the beginning of Hanukkah in December 1969. Mark, 8, left, Howard, 7, and Leah, 5, stand before the menorah while the oldest, Norman, 9, reads from the prayer book. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Today)The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., center, with Al Raby, left, convener of the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, leads a march to protest the policies of Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Benjamin Willis that began at Grant Park on July 26, 1965. (Steve Lasker/Chicago’s American)Jogn Rukavina, left, helps assemble a television antenna 61 stories above street level atop Marina City in July 1964. (Steve Lasker/Chicago’s American)
Luis Aparicio, left in car, and Nellie Fox en route to City Hall down LaSalle Street during the White Sox victory parade on Sept. 24, 1959, after the team won the American League pennant. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)John Schmale Sr., father of Nina Jo Schmale, who was murdered, is led out of the room by the coroner, Dr. Andrew Toman, right, after seeing his daughter’s body at the county morgue on July 14, 1966. Richard Speck was later convicted of killing her and seven other young nurses. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)Chicago police got out of a squad car after it was hit by gunfire on Larrabee Street, south of Division Street, during the rioting on April 6, 1968. (Steve Lasker/Chicago’s American)
Blackhawks goalie Jack Norris defends the net during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Chicago Stadium on March 16, 1969. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)Mayor Richard J. Daley, left, campaigns with John F. Kennedy at Meigs Field in 1960, the year Kennedy won election as president. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)Chester Weger’s handcuffs are removed by Deputy Sheriff Wayne Hess before he enters a courtroom in Ottawa, Illinois, on Nov. 17, 1960. Weger was convicted in 1961 of the murder of one of three women found slain at Starved Rock State Park. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)
Malcolm Reeser, an Andy Frain usher who is Chicago’s version of Mitch Miller, stands on the catwalk of Wrigley Field’s mezzanine ramp to lead Cub fans in sing-along in May 1969. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Today)Chicago Cubs Manager Leo Durocher greets Jim Hickman with a handshake after the outfielder’s game-winning home run on June 26, 1969. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Today)President-elect Richard Nixon, his wife, Pat, and Cardinal John Cody listen to remarks of Gov.-elect Richard Ogilvie at a dinner held at the Sheraton-Blackstone Hotel in honor of three Chicagoans who will join the Nixon administration. State leaders of both parties attended the bipartisan dinner hosted by insurance executive W. Clement Stone on Jan. 3, 1969. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)
Early-bird customers wait outside Comiskey Park in October 1959 to get into a World Series game between the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune)
