Kerry Reid has worked for the Reader in various capacities since 1992, taking spins on the editorial and business sides of the organization, and freelancing in-between before becoming the paper’s theater and dance editor in the summer of 2019. What keeps Kerry coming back? “Simply put, the Reader is the best because people give a damn about the work and about the city,” she says. Kerry attended Downers Grove North High School before embarking on what she calls her Choose Your Own Adventure-style journalism and theater hybrid degree. She graduated from Columbia College after transferring from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she took journalism classes with Brad Pitt, then promptly dropped him from memory. “I assume that this works both ways,” she says, but if you’ve ever met Kerry, you know the odds are slim-to-none that anyone, Hollywood A-Lister or otherwise, could ever forget her charm, wit, and deep knowledge of arts and culture (she cites Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, satirical novelist Dawn Powell, and midwest rock icons the Replacements among her favorite creative voices). Beyond the city’s many theaters and performance spaces, Kerry’s favorite local spots include Rosehill Cemetery, the Joseph Cornell room at the Art Institute of Chicago, and “the (eroding) beaches of Rogers Park.” Kerry lives on Chicago’s north side with her mathematician and data scientist partner, who she originally met at Mizzou and reconnected with years later— unlike Brad Pitt, he knows how to leave an impression!
Facebook: facebook.com/kerrymreid
