My friend Corny Ramirez.
If you believe, as I do, that sense of place is a powerful narrative, then Cornelio “Corny” Ramirez, Jr. lived a real Chicago life. His working-class voice was heard from the top of the 95th Street Bridge to the ripples of the Calumet River. Corny was a good union man, a militant punk musician, and a loving husband and father.
Corny died peacefully on Nov. 2 in his home five blocks from the Indiana border on the Southeast Side. He was 61 years old.
His inspiration may be his greatest story.
I met Corny in the summer of 1995 when he was the 5’3” lead singer of Dead Steelmill, [...]
