Ann Gerber Photograph Collection

Ann Gerber (1926-2016) began her 65-year writing career while attending Senn High School on Chicago’s North Side. She graduated from Wright Junior College and later attended Mundelein and Northwestern Universities, but did not take a degree. By 1950, she was routinely writing the gossip column for Lerner Newspapers, one of the most successful weekly and semi-weekly newspaper chains in the country. When Lerner launched the news weekly, Skyline, in 1960, Gerber became the society gossip columnist that covered the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Loop, and Near North neighborhoods of Chicago. A fixture on Chicago’s society and celebrity circuit, Gerber eventually became the Skyline’s editor and one of the longest running newspaper columnists in the country. In 1987, Gerber left Skyline to join the Chicago Sun-Times, but returned in 1989 after being fired when a thinly veiled gossip item in her column resulted in retractions and outrage from a high-profile celebrity. She remained at Skyline until 2012. She is noted for her commitment to promoting charitable events. In 2013, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Journalists Association.

Gerber is also the author of two cookbooks.