Author: Ron Stempkowski
I'm an award-winning writer living in Chicago. I have a passion for writing, storytelling, and my dog.
The Sanctuary of Sameness
The first gay bar I ever went to in Chicago was a small but colorful neighborhood bar called Buddie’s. I’d found it wandering down Clark Street while my friend Denise, who had driven us th... Read More
Back to Class
I decided to take a writing class recently. There is an incredible writing school a couple of blocks away from my condo called Story Studio. I stumbled across it a few years ago during an open house t... Read More
Ten Years or a Blink?
As soon as the calendar turns to January, June 1 has traditionally been a magnet for my attention and emotion since it became the day Ken died in 2011. But this year May 1 leapt out at me. And I was s... Read More
The Ghost of Remington House
My parents bought a Baptist Church when I was one to rehab it into our family home in the early 1970s. Growing up–upon hearing we lived in a former church–people always remarked about how... Read More
Dear, Diary…
When I’m in the mood or just when I run across them on the shelf in my bedroom, I love to pull out one of my old diaries and read a few entries. It’s a portal to a different time. A different me. ... Read More
The Special of Today
Today is my sister’s birthday. It always has been. As long as I’ve been on earth. It was the first thing I thought of today when I looked at the date on the calendar to medicate my dog Kal... Read More
Peter Comes Home with a Secret: A Story of Christmas, Coffee and Coming Out
Back in the days of only three broadcast networks, no one was in as big a rush as they are today. Commercials seemed epically long and some of them were like mini serials. Remember the Taster’s... Read More
5 Years of “The Xanax Diary”
It seems like I’ve always had this blog; that it has always been here to engage me and calm me and focus me and distract me. But I haven’t. I’ve always written for those reasons, bu... Read More