Basil Talbott Jr., Sun-Times Political Editor and Longtime Columnist, Dies at 89

Basil Talbott Jr., Sun-Times political editor and longtime columnist, dies at 89

During his years in Chicago and Washington, D.C., Talbott covered the civil rights movement, the first Daley administration and the rise and fall of President Bill Clinton. Colleagues remember him for always putting journalistic integrity first.

Basil Talbott Jr., legendary Chicago Sun-Times political editor, has died

Talbott, 89, was known for his dogged pursuit of the story, chronicling in depth the political fortunes of Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor and the run-ups to the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns.