Peter Nolan
Place of birth: Buffalo, NY.
What is your profession? Writer, retired broadcast journalist.
How do you celebrate your Irishness? Singing songs to people I love and a nice drink of whiskey.
Name a hero you admire and why? The late Monsignor Ignatius McDermott, better known as Father Mac the pastor of skid row in Chicago. I once produced a video about his life and work. It was called the Angel of West Madison Street. Father Mac ministered to the broken alcoholics he found on the street, offering them a bowl of soup and a clean place to sleep. Always he urged them toward sobriety. He often spoke in sports metaphors: "These people are God's beaten favorites on the racetrack of life, and I'd like to bring them to the finish line."
Something people would be surprised to know about me... I pray a lot.
Biography: Peter Nolan was a television news reporter whose career in Chicago at WMAQ-TV and WBBM-TV spanned the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. He won three Emmys and several journalism awards including Chicago Magazine’s best TV reporter. In 2019 Nolan received the Silver Circle Award of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chicago Chapter.
A native of Buffalo, NY, Nolan began his broadcast career at WHLD Radio, Niagara Falls, NY. He also worked at WKBN-TV, Youngstown, Ohio before arriving in Chicago near the end of the turbulent 1960’s.
Mr. Nolan is the author of two critically praised books; CAMPAIGN! The Election that Rocked Chicago (Amika Press 2012) and News Stories, a Memoir (GateKeeper Press 2018).
