Wilmette resident, former Tribune editor Georgia Garvey compiles columns in new book
Georgia Garvey — a writer, former editor at the Chicago Tribune and Pioneer Press, author and mother of two living in Wilmette — has released a new book, “Everything Is Going to Be OK (Until It’s Not)” compiling her nationally syndicated lifestyle columns with Pioneer Press and Creators Publishing.
Garvey started writing her column for Pioneer Press during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was editor in chief of Pioneer Press and Lake County News Sun at Trib/Pioneer as a way to work through the challenges and joys of being a parent during that time. From there, Creators Publishing reached out to offer her a syndicated column allowing her work to be printed in dozens of news outlets across the country.
“When I had the opportunity to be syndicated and continue writing the column, I jumped at it,” Garvey said. “Column writing had become such an important part of my life.”
She still writes the column today with stories about a wide range of topics from motherhood to her former pets, including a foul mouthed Portuguese-speaking parrot her father was gifted as a partial payment for his work on offshore oil rigs.
One column, written during the pandemic and included in the book, touched on her grandmother who lived in Greece and went through a series of strokes leaving her ill. Garvey traveled to Greece to see her before she died, something she was adamant about doing.
Those being most harmed by COVID-19, such as the elderly and those with co-morbidities, were at the forefront of the news at this time, according to Garvey. She said seeing her grandmother at that point inspired her to write a column, “talking about the importance of saving lives, even if it’s a person who is very ill. Just talking about how crucial that was.”
Garvey plans to read the columns on her grandmother and the parrot, among others, during a book reading and signing at the Book Stall in Winnetka on Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. She will also discuss her time as a column writer and other stories at the event.
“The Book Stall is a really important book store on the North Shore and so I’m really thrilled to get the chance to speak there,” she said.
Some of her other columns are inspired by her Greek heritage. Garvey was born in America but moved to Greece with her family until returning in first grade. This link inspired a fiction novel where a modern-day Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, joins forces with a descendant of Hercules to take back an artifact from Ares, the Greek god of war.
Part of what makes mythology so timeless is how it taps into primal needs we all have as humans, according to Garvey.
“People have from the beginning of time always felt kind of powerless in the face of nature and the way that life seems to be such a challenge sometimes,” she said. “These stories — the Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology and Norse mythology — they’re ways that our ancestors had of putting those experiences into context and dealing with that fear and that confusion that we all have.”
The shift from nonfiction to fiction, according to Garvey, can be difficult but rewarding.
“I have such a good time doing it that it’s worth it,” she said.
As far as her column, Garvey has no plans to slow down.
“I always think of new things. It’s really weird,” she said. “I always think to myself ‘Oh gosh, what am I going to write about this week?’ and every week I’m just blown away because I can come up with something.”
Garvey considers herself lucky being able to work in a field she loves and excels in. For those who want to be writers, she says to write for yourself first.
“I don’t think most people who write, even if they’re very talented, will get rich from writing,” she said. “If writing is what brings you joy, then you should write ... writing can be its own reward.”
