Chicago's top employers named

The Chicago Tribune released its annual Top Workplaces survey Monday, with a broad cross section of companies -- and dozens of new names -- earning recognition as the best places to work in Chicago. 

Abt Electronics and Coyote Logistics repeated as the top large and midsize employers, respectively, with iD Commerce + Logistics making the list for the first time as the top-ranked small company.  

This is the third year the Tribune has partnered with Workplace Dynamics to rank the top 100 companies as judged by their own employees, using criteria ranging from clued-in managers to flexible work schedules. More than 1,600 companies were invited to participate, with a record 254 completing the survey.

Pennsylvania-based Workplace Dynamics partnered with 32 newspapers and surveyed 1.5 million employees nationwide last year as part of its research efforts into what environments are best for employees. 

"We all spend an awful lot of time at work," said Doug Claffey, CEO of Workplace Dynamics. "Creating a really great workplace for employees is something that I think businesses have an obligation to do.  In addition to making money, you need create an environment where your people want to be."

Beyond Glenview electronics retailer Abt,  the top five large companies were Hyatt Hotels, Baird & Warner, ATI Physical Therapy and FedEx -- all new to this category this year.

Chicago-based Coyote Logistics was followed by kCura, Slalom Consulting, Edward Jones and Mercy Home for Boys & Girls among companies with 250 to 999 employees.  

Wood Dale-based id Commerce topped Webster Dental, 2011 winner Red Frog Events, Assurance Agency and LeasePlan USA among small companies.

Full survey results and a variety of top workplace profiles will be published in a magazine insert included in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune.

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

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Firefighter dies after responding to fire: 'Very difficult time for us'

Diane Patmon, wife of fallen firefighter Walter Patmon, talks about her husband and his life as a firefighter on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. He died after suffering a cardiac arrest after a fire call on Sunday. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune)

Diane Patmon says she wasn’t worried when her husband Walter left for his shift at Engine Company 121 in the Beverly neighborhood.

"Whatever happens, it's always in God's hands," Patmon said, looking tired as she stood in front of her home, hours after her husband collapsed and died at the firehouse after responding to a fire.

"He always wanted to be a firefighter since he was a child," she said. "Today it felt like he would be home, like he usually comes home."

Patmon, an 18-year veteran who became a firefighter at 43, went into cardiac arrest within hours of responding to a small kitchen fire in the 1500 block of West 99th Street Sunday night, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said. The firefighters discovered meat burning on a stove, officials said.

After returning to his firehouse, Patmon experienced shortness of breath while cleaning equipment, Knight said. He was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:21 p.m.

Patmon's body was taken early Monday to the medical examiner's office, accompanied by a procession of fire and police vehicles. Dozens of firefighters and police officers lined the streets outside the office and saluted as the procession passed under an American flag hanging from an extended fire truck ladder.

With many bowing their heads and removing their helmets, the firefighters then gathered for a communal prayer before the firefighter's body was taken inside.

The death came three days after the funeral of Capt. Herbert "Herbie" Johnson, a 32-year fire department veteran who died while battling an extra-alarm blaze. Johnson was remembered Thursday during an emotional service attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and hundreds of firefighters at a Southwest Side church.

Besides his wife, Patmon is survived by three daughters.

Diane Patmon described Patmon as a loving husband and committed father. The couple met while both worked at Michael Reese Hospital and they married in 1979. Their three daughters are in their 20s.

Firefighter Dave Beason, who paused while placing purple bunting at the station house at 1700 W. 95th St., remembered Patmon as a good mentor to other firefighters.

“He was a great guy,’’ Beason said.  “He was always smiling, and he was someone who was always willing to teach you.

“He put himself out to help you in any way he could,’’ he said. “Whenever you knew you were going to work with him, you knew you were going to have a good day.’’

Beason worked with Patmon for six years before being transferred to O’Hare International Airport. He said he learned how to drive a fire truck from Patmon.

Patmon "was a real family man,’’ Beason added.  “He just adored his daughters.’’

Patmon was also famous for his barbecues, and Beason said he even encouraged him to open up his own eatery. “Anyone who knew him knew that he made the best barbecue."

Irving Brown Sr., a 63-year-old retired fire captain, said he had known Patmon for about 40 years. They grew up together in the area around 79th Street and Halsted Avenue.  "He really had an attitude that was golden," Brown said.

Known for his barbecue rub, Patmon loved to cook, Brown said. Not even the weather could stop him from barbecuing in his back yard.

"Whenever he had the fancy, he would cook," Brown said, including on wintry days when the temperature fell below freezing.

Neighbors also remembered Patmon for his tidy lawn.

"He took a lot of pride in his house," said Maurnice Ambrose, Patmon's next-door neighbor. Though always friendly, she added, Patmon often kept to himself.

Brown said Patmon joined the fire department in 1994 after working as a truck driver and as a postal clerk at Michael Reese Hospital. Brown said Patmon's love of people made him a perfect fit for the job.

"Once he got on, you couldn't pull him off of that job with two airplanes and a tow truck," Irving said.

Brown said Patmon graduated from Calumet High School.

Tom Ryan, president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, praised Patmon's commitment to his job.

"To go through the academy at 23 is hard enough," Ryan said. "To go through at at 43? That's even harder.

"It's been a very, very difficult time for all of us," Ryan said about the two recent firefighter deaths. "It just doesn't seem like we're getting a break."

asege@tribune.com

Twitter: @AdamSege

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U2′s Bono to urge U.S. politicians not to cut aid programs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Irish rocker and anti-poverty campaigner Bono will appeal to Democrats and Republicans during a visit to Washington this week to spare U.S. development assistance programs from cuts as Congress tries to avert the looming “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending reductions early next year.

The U2 lead singer’s visit comes as the Obama administration and congressional leaders try to forge a deal in coming weeks to avoid the economy hitting the “fiscal cliff” – tax increases and spending cuts worth $ 600 billion starting in January if Congress does not act.

Analysts say the absence of a deal could shock the United States, the world’s biggest economy, back into recession.

Kathy McKiernan, spokeswoman for the ONE Campaign, said Bono will hold talks with congressional lawmakers and senior Obama administration officials during the November 12-14 visit.

During meetings he will stress the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance programs and the need to preserve them to avoid putting at risk progress made in fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, she said.

Bono, a long-time advocate for the poor, will argue that U.S. government-funded schemes that support life-saving treatments for HIV/AIDS sufferers, nutrition programs for malnourished children, and emergency food aid make up just 1 percent of the U.S. government budget but are helping to save tens of millions of lives in impoverished nations.

The One Campaign would not elaborate which lawmakers and senior Obama administration officials Bono will meet.

On Monday, Bono will discuss the power of social movements with students at Georgetown University. He will also meet new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim for a web cast discussion on Wednesday on the challenges of eradicating poverty.

(Editing by W Simon)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Letters: Flu and the Numbers (1 Letter)

To the Editor:

“Reassessing Flu Shots as the Season Draws Near” (The Consumer, Nov. 6) implies that since the flu vaccine does not as work as well as expected — preventing one case for dozens of patients injected — we should not be as aggressive in promoting it. I disagree.

By that logic, one might conclude that treating blood pressure in diabetics is not a good idea because it prevents just one stroke for every 210 patients. Yes, I am disappointed the vaccine does not perform better, but it does work and the risks and costs are low.

David A. Nardone, , M.D.

Hillsboro, Ore.

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United to repay $5.6M in tax incentives

United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, is giving back $5.6 million in City of Chicago tax incentives.

The incentive money is tied to United's 2007 move to its corporate headquarters at 77 W. Wacker Drive, along the Chicago River.

Because of United's recent plans to move out of that building and consolidate its headquarters into Willis Tower where it has other operations, the airline said it was "appropriate" to return the money. However, it wasn't necessary.

City officials said United had so far fulfilled its obligations for receiving the money, such as maintaining a minimum employment level in the 77 W. Wacker Drive building, and that the incentives would have traveled with the company as it moved several blocks down Wacker Drive to Willis Tower.

"I commend United Airlines on an incredible act of corporate citizenship that speaks to the unique role Chicago's business community plays in the future of the city," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

United said it will give back $5.6 million it already received in Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, a funding tool used by Chicago to promote investment in the city.

United will also forgo up to $9.7 million more in TIF money that the city would have paid the airline, for a total of $15.3 million. However, United probably wouldn't have received the remaining $9.7 million because the money was tied to its fuel consumption at O'Hare International Airport.

"We were unlikely to ever realize the incremental $9.7 million anyway because of our improving fuel efficiency and reduced capacity," United spokeswoman Christen David said, referring to the airline's business strategy of reducing its overall flying by operating fuller planes.

The giveback does not include $35.9 million in TIF money tied to a separate 2009 incentive agreement that involved moving 2,500 workers from Elk Grove Village to Willis Tower.

"Since we are vacating 77 W. Wacker, which we redeveloped with the help of city economic incentives, we feel it is appropriate to return the funds we used for that redevelopment," David said.

The airline decided it should not combine the incentive agreements for the two locations. "This decision does not have any impact on the agreement for Willis Tower," she said.

The move to return money might seem surprising, coming from a company with thin profit margins in an industry that has struggled. Flight cancellations during superstorm Sandy caused a financial setback of $90 million in revenue and $35 million in profit for the month of October, United said last week.

"I do think this is rare," Joe Schwieterman, a professor in the school of public service at DePaul University, said of giving back incentive money. But in general, companies like to maintain their flexibility and can be hamstrung by a requirement for a minimum employment level at a certain location, he said. United's TIF agreement called for a minimum employment of 315 over 10 years, starting in 2007 at 77 W. Wacker. A 10-year commitment "is an eternity in the topsy-turvy world" of business, he said. "And employment guarantees can be an albatross around senior management's neck."

When United finishes the move, it will have more than 4,000 employees in Willis Tower, far more than the approximately 2,800 they were required to have for both TIF agreements.

United CEO Jeff Smisek said in a letter to Emanuel last week that the airline will consolidate into Willis because it "will be a critical factor in building a common company culture and greater operational efficiency, which we view as keys to our success."

He said United has met the commitments in its incentive agreements on the headquarters building. "However, now that we are relocating co-workers to Willis Tower, we believe it is appropriate to terminate those agreements and repay the city funds we have received," Smisek said in the letter.

United currently leases about 625,000 square feet in Willis. The airline secured another 205,000 square feet in the building and extended the term of its lease through 2028, according to Smisek. The airline expects to finish building out the additional space by the second quarter of next year, according to Smisek's letter.

The mayor's office called United's Willis expansion "one of the largest office space commitments in Chicago's history."

United is the fourth company to return TIF funds recently, according to the mayor's office. The others are CME Group, CNA Group and Bank of America, which together returned some $34 million in TIF money last year. CNA and Bank of America fell short of the 2,700 or so jobs each was required to keep in exchange for the tax breaks, which helped them update buildings. However, they returned the money earlier than they had to, a city spokesman said.

The returned money goes back into the TIF program and will be used for other projects.

gkarp@tribune.com

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'No cause has been ruled out' after deadly Indianapolis blast

At least two people are dead after a late-night explosion in an Indianapolis neighborhood.

Investigators are trying to puzzle out what caused an explosion and fire that killed two people and tore through a residential area of Indianapolis, displacing scores of residents, authorities said today.

The damage estimate is $3.6 million, said Adam Collins, Deputy Dir. of Indiana Code Enforcement.

The two deceased are adults, according to fire officials. Police as of 3 p.m. are not saying if a criminal investigation has been launched.

"There's a significant number of homes that have sustained damage, including two that have been completely destroyed. No cause has been ruled out," said Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

"The investigation is ongoing," he said. He added that seven people had been injured in the explosion, which left a large debris field. The origin of the blast was near 8415 Fieldfare Way, in the south part of Indianapolis, according to an Indianapolis Fire Department release.

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., who represents the area, said he went to the church where the new donation headquarters is and area Homeland Security officials told him a bomb and a meth lab have been ruled out as causes.

The two homes exploded just after 11 p.m. Saturday, sparking fires in two others and damaging at least two dozen homes on the south side of Indianapolis, said Lt. Bonnie Hensley, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

"It looks like a war zone here right now," Hensley said.

Police have so far been unable to identify the two adults who died, a spokesman said this afternoon.

Jan Able, who lives nearby, said she believes the victims, a couple, lived in the home next door to where the blast occurred.

A woman in her 40s and her 12 -year-old daughter who live in the home where the blast originated  were in Ohio at the time, said Able.

Able's daughter and son-in-law live a few streets from Able, so she and her husband are staying with them.

Able said it’s a "very good neighborhood" full of professionals, including doctors, architects, nurses. 

The blast originated near 8415 Fieldfare Way, according to the fire department release.

From his bedroom a block away, 47-year-old software engineer Chris Patterson felt the walls of his home shake. The force of the explosion shattered a glass sliding door in his home, he said.

Patterson said despite the grim situation, his spirit was bolstered by the efforts of his neighbors and first responders and has no plans to move away.

“I am freaked out, definitely, but I don’t think we want to move. We really like this neighborhood. I went to church this morning and I feel blessed because of how fast emergency people responded and the way our whole neighborhood pulled together,’’ Patterson said.

“I’m actually more inclined to stay.’’

Patterson was allowed back into his home about 1:10 p.m.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire, according to a fire department statement.

Officials evacuated about 200 people to a nearby elementary school, where the Red Cross sheltered about 20 of them for the night. Others spent the night at friends' homes or with family, and officials planned to take the rest to the Southport Presbyterian Church.

As of late Sunday morning, approximately 60 cases of water and Gatorade were outside the school and a police spokesman said donations are pouring in, including toiletries, doughnuts and pizza.

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Bond soars with record $87.8M ‘Skyfall’ debut

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond‘s “Skyfall” has extended its worldwide box-office rule to North America, hauling in a franchise-record $ 87.8 million in its first weekend at U.S. theaters.

Adding in $ 2.2 million from Thursday night previews at IMAX and other large-format theaters, “Skyfall” has taken in $ 90 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That lifts the worldwide total for “Skyfall” to $ 518.6 million since it began rolling out overseas in late October. Internationally, the 23rd Bond flick added $ 89 million this weekend to raise its overseas revenue to $ 428.6 million.

The third installment starring Daniel Craig as British super-spy Bond, “Skyfall” outdid the $ 67.5 million U.S. debut of 2008′s “Quantum of Solace,” the franchise’s previous best opening. “Skyfall” more than doubled the $ 40.8 million debut of Craig’s first Bond film, 2006′s “Casino Royale.”

“Skyfall” already has passed the $ 407.7 million overseas total for “Quantum of Solace” and by Monday, it will top the $ 432.2 million international haul for “Casino Royale.”

The Craig era has reinvigorated one of Hollywood‘s most-enduring franchises, whose first big-screen Bond adventure, “Dr. No,” debuted 50 years ago.

“It’s quite a testament to Bond, considering it’s the 50th anniversary. What a great anniversary present,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony, which produces the Bond films along with MGM.

“Skyfall” was the weekend’s only new wide release, but Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” had a huge start in a handful of theaters. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president, “Lincoln” took in $ 900,000 in 11 theaters for a whopping average of $ 81,818 a cinema. By comparison, “Skyfall” averaged $ 25,050 in 3,505 theaters.

“Lincoln” centers on the months leading up to the president’s assassination in April 1865, as he maneuvers to pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery and end the Civil War. Distributor Disney will expand “Lincoln” into nationwide release of about 1,600 theaters Friday and may widen the film further over Thanksgiving week.

The film has strong Academy Awards prospects for two-time directing winner Spielberg, two-time acting recipient Day-Lewis and the rest of the cast, which includes Oscar winners Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

“The performances are some of the greatest of recent time,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. “I don’t know if you’re ever going to think about it again without seeing our actor as Lincoln. Daniel is extraordinary in the role.”

“Skyfall” took over the top spot at the weekend box office from Disney’s animated comedy “Wreck-It Ralph,” which fell to No. 2 with $ 33.1 million, raising its domestic total to $ 93.7 million.

While “Skyfall” marked a new high for Bond‘s opening-weekend revenue, the film has a long way to go to match the biggest audiences 007 has ever drawn. Adjusted for inflation, Sean Connery’s 1965 Bond adventure “Thunderball” would have taken in an estimated $ 508 million domestically in today’s dollars, with its 1964 predecessor “Goldfinger” not far behind at $ 444 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The Bond films over the last two decades have come in around the $ 200 million range domestically in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Still, Craig’s Bond is setting a new critical standard for the franchise. While “Quantum of Solace” had a so-so critical reception, “Skyfall” and “Casino Royale” are among the best-reviewed Bond films, with critics and fans enjoying the darker edge Craig has imprinted on 007.

“‘Skyfall’ is to the Bond franchise what ‘The Dark Knight’ was to the Batman franchise,” said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “By taking it to a whole other level, this is a different kind of Bond that can be taken really seriously.”

Directed by Sam Mendes, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind “American Beauty” and Craig’s director on “Road to Perdition,” ”Skyfall” continues the current franchise’s exploration into the emotional traumas that have shaped Bond‘s cool, aloof manner.

The film reveals secrets out of the past of Bond’s boss, British spymaster M (Judi Dench), and pits 007 against a brilliant but unstable former agent (Javier Bardem) who’s out for revenge.

Hollywood remains on a brisk pace this fall as the busy holiday season approaches. Overall domestic revenues totaled $ 172 million, up 26 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Immortals” led with $ 32.2 million.

For the year, domestic revenues are at $ 9.1 billion, up 4.3 percent from 2011′s, according to Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Skyfall,” $ 87.8 million.

2. “Wreck-It Ralph,” $ 33.1 million.

3. “Flight,” $ 15.1 million.

4. “Argo,” $ 6.7 million.

5. “Taken 2,” $ 4 million.

6. “Here Comes the Boom,” $ 2.6 million

7. “Cloud Atlas,” $ 2.53 million.

8. “Pitch Perfect,” $ 2.5 million.

9. “The Man with the Iron Fists,” $ 2.49 million.

10. “Hotel Transylvania,” $ 2.4 million.

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. “Skyfall,” $ 89 million.

2. “Argo,” $ 12 million.

3. “Wreck-It Ralph,” $ 11.2 million.

4. “Hotel Transylvania,” $ 11.1 million.

5. “A Werewolf Boy,” $ 10.5 million.

6. “Cloud Atlas,” $ 8.7 million.

7. “Paranormal Activity 4,” $ 6 million.

8 (tie). “Asterlix and Obelix: God Save Britannia,” $ 4.4 million.

8 (tie). “Confession of Murder,” $ 4.4 million.

10. “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” $ 4.1 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Mind Faded, Darrell Royal’s Wisdom and Humor Intact Till End

Three days before his death last week at 88, Darrell Royal told his wife, Edith: “We need to go back to Hollis” — in Oklahoma. “Uncle Otis died.”

“Oh, Darrell,” she said, “Uncle Otis didn’t die.”

Royal, a former University of Texas football coach, chuckled and said, “Well, Uncle Otis will be glad to hear that.”

The Royal humor never faded, even as he sank deeper into Alzheimer’s disease. The last three years, I came to understand this as well as anyone. We had known each other for more than 40 years. In the 1970s, Royal was a virile, driven, demanding man with a chip on his shoulder bigger than Bevo, the Longhorns mascot. He rarely raised his voice to players. “But we were scared to death of him,” the former quarterback Bill Bradley said.

Royal won 3 national championships and 167 games before retiring at 52. He was a giant in college football, having stood shoulder to shoulder with the Alabama coach Bear Bryant. Royal’s Longhorns defeated one of Bryant’s greatest teams, with Joe Namath at quarterback, in the 1965 Orange Bowl. Royal went 3-0-1 in games against Bryant.

Royal and I were reunited in the spring of 2010. I barely recognized him. The swagger was gone. His mind had faded. Often he stared aimlessly across the room. I scheduled an interview with him for my book “Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story.” Still, I worried that his withering mind could no longer conjure up images of Steinmark, the undersize safety who started 21 straight winning games for the Longhorns in the late 1960s. Steinmark later developed bone cancer that robbed him of his left leg.

When I met with Royal and his wife, I quickly learned that his long-term memory was as clear as a church bell. For two hours, Royal took me back to Steinmark’s recruiting trip to Austin in 1967, through the Big Shootout against Arkansas in 1969, to the moment President Richard M. Nixon handed him the national championship trophy in the cramped locker room in Fayetteville. He recalled the day at M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston the next week when doctors informed Steinmark that his leg would be amputated if a biopsy revealed cancer. Royal never forgot the determined expression on Steinmark’s face, nor the bravery in his heart.

The next morning, Royal paced the crowded waiting room floor and said: “This just can’t be happening to a good kid like Freddie Steinmark. This just can’t be happening.”

With the love of his coach, Steinmark rose to meet the misfortune. Nineteen days after the amputation, he stood with crutches on the sideline at the Cotton Bowl for the Notre Dame game. After the Longhorns defeated the Fighting Irish, Royal tearfully presented the game ball to Steinmark.

Four decades later, while researching the Steinmark book, I became close to Royal again. As I was leaving his condominium the day of the interview, I said, “Coach, do you still remember me?” He smiled and said, “Now, Jim Dent, how could I ever forget you?” My sense of self-importance lasted about three seconds. Royal chuckled. He pointed across the room to the message board next to the front door that read, “Jim Dent appt. at 10 a.m.”

Edith and his assistant, Colleen Kieke, read parts of my book to him. One day, Royal told me, “It’s really a great book.” But I can’t be certain how much he knew of the story.

Like others, I was troubled to see Royal’s memory loss. He didn’t speak for long stretches. He smiled and posed for photographs. He seemed the happiest around his former players. He would call his longtime friend Tom Campbell, an all-Southwest Conference defensive back from the 1960s, and say, “What are you up to?” That always meant, “Let’s go drink a beer.”

As her husband’s memory wore thin, Edith did not hide him. Instead, she organized his 85th birthday party and invited all of his former players. Quarterback James Street, who engineered the famous 15-14 comeback against Arkansas in 1969, sat by Royal’s side and helped him remember faces and names. The players hugged their coach, then turned away to hide the tears.

In the spring of 2010, I was invited to the annual Mexican lunch for Royal attended by about 75 of his former players. A handful of them were designated to stand up and tell Royal what he meant to them. Royal smiled through each speech as his eyes twinkled. I was mesmerized by a story the former defensive tackle Jerrel Bolton told. He recalled that Royal had supported him after the murder of his wife some 30 year earlier.

“Coach, you told me it was like a big cut on my arm, that the scab would heal, but that the wound would always come back,” Bolton said. “It always did.”

Royal seemed to drink it all in. But everyone knew his mind would soon dim.

The last time I saw him was June 20 at the County Line, a barbecue restaurant next to Bull Creek in Austin. Because Royal hated wheelchairs and walkers, the former Longhorn Mike Campbell, Tom’s twin, and I helped him down the stairs by wrapping our arms around his waist and gripping the back of his belt. I ordered his lunch, fed him his sandwich and cleaned his face with a napkin. He looked at me and said, “Was I a college player in the 1960s?”

“No, Coach,” I said. “But you were a great player for the Oklahoma Sooners in the late 1940s. You quarterbacked Oklahoma to an 11-0 record and the Sooners’ first national championship in 1949.”

He smiled and said, “Well, I’ll be doggone.”

After lunch, Mike Campbell and I carried him up the stairs. We sat him on a bench outside as Tom Campbell fetched the car. In that moment, the lunch crowd began to spill out of the restaurant. About 20 customers recognized Royal. They took his photograph with camera phones. Royal smiled and welcomed the hugs.

“He didn’t remember a thing about it,” Tom Campbell said later. “But it did his heart a whole lot of good.”

Jim Dent is the author of “The Junction Boys” and eight other books.

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Phil Rosenthal: Forming a Bond with brands

On the big screen, a hero's mettle is established by showing how much punishment the star can withstand and how daunting the obstacles are while ultimately getting the job done.

Early in the latest James Bond movie, "Skyfall," an assassin seeks to escape on a train speeding through the Turkish countryside. His tireless pursuer is pelted with bullets, swats away bugs and, when the bad guy disconnects the trailing car, extends an arm to literally hold on to the rest of the train so the chase can continue.

And the pursuer is, in fact, tireless because it is a modified Caterpillar 320D L excavator that Daniel Craig's Bond has commandeered. The bullets are bullets, but the bugs are Volkswagen Beetles, some swept off the train, others crushed. The logo-covered excavator's arm not only holds onto the rest of the train but provides Bond a perch from which to leap into the carriage, fixing the cuffs in his Tom Ford suit as he goes after the villain.

"For (the filmmakers), it wasn't an excavator, it wasn't what they would in the U.K. call a digger — it was for them a 'hero machine' because it was something that actually saves Bond," said Robert Woodley, the marketing executive for Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc., from his office in Geneva.

Woodley arranged and oversaw Cat's "Skyfall" star turn. "It's not just having the brand out there. It's seeing what light it's going to be viewed in."

"Skyfall" is practically "Skymall," what with all the brands and products mentioned and showcased.

The practice is neither new nor isolated. Yet even by the license-to-shill standards of increasingly commercialized James Bond movies, this one has an awful lot of brand exposure. All that's missing are the NASCAR-style logo patches for Bond, no slouch behind the wheel.

Especially now that the fictional covert operator is the focal point of an extremely overt ad campaign for beer, albeit Heineken.

Never mind the other products basking in the superspy's aura, such as Sony mobile phones and Vaio laptop computers, Macallan single-malt Scotch, Honda cycles, Bollinger Champagne, Globe-Trotter suitcases, Crockett & Jones footwear, Walther guns, Aston Martin cars, Swarovski jewelry, Omega watches, OPI nail polish, Land Rovers and Range Rovers and all the rest.

Some pay for the privilege, some make other arrangements. Some, like the new James Bond fragrance hawked by Procter & Gamble, aren't in the film. But all told, sponsorship and other ancillary deals for "Skyfall" are said to have brought in $45 million, about a third of what it cost to produce the film, one of the best in the Bond series.

"We have relationships with a number of companies so that we can make this movie," Craig told Moviefone on the "Skyfall" set this spring. "The simple fact is that, without them, we couldn't do it. It's unfortunate, but that's how it is."

The 007 tradition of brand integration, brand cameos, product placement or whatever you want to call it dates back to the original Ian Fleming stories. Some would say it's in the name of verisimilitude. But it's said Bond, originally a reader exclusively of The Times of London, also began reading the rival Daily Express when that paper began serializing Fleming's work.

Through a half-century of 007 films, the practice has grown as producers realized the potential economic windfall and marketers recognized the unique opportunity of association with the 007 franchise — as well as other entertainment.

"The challenge with product placement is it has to fit," said Timothy Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "When it works, there's a natural connection between the brand and the story and when it doesn't work, there's an inconsistency, and both parties are worse for the deal."

Today's sophisticated media consumer expects to see brands in TV shows, movies and even video games, according to Tom Weeks, senior vice president at LiquidThread (formerly known as Starcom Entertainment), the branded entertainment and content development operation within Chicago's Starcom MediaVest Group. But proper context — proper casting — is a must.

"Brands are stars, too," Weeks said. "They've got their own Twitter accounts. They've got their own Facebook pages. And they're invited into content as part of the experience. But it has to be done right, in a way that's not obtrusive and doesn't interrupt the digestion of that content."

Some Bond aficionados scoff at the Heineken tie-in, preferring to think of their man as a martini and Dom Perignon man. But there was Red Stripe beer in 1962's "Dr. No." And besides the familiar green-bottled Heineken (whose logo also is emblazoned on an unlikely wooden crate toppled in an early chase scene) and a lightly sipped martini, there is a memorable scene built around 50-year-aged Macallan.

"When I was at Kraft, there were times when a film would come out and our brands would be in the film and we'd be delighted … or not," he said. "I never saw a time when one of our brands was used in a way that made us cringe, but it could happen."

Case in point: the VW Beetles, out-of-stock models, crushed in "Skyfall." "While we always look for opportunities for exposure in the form of product placement, we were not involved with this placement," Corey Proffitt, who handles product communications for Volkswagen of America, told the Tribune by email.

Caterpillar, which first tied up with 007 in 1999's "The World is Not Enough," hopes the "Skyfall" connection boosts brand awareness, particularly in emerging markets like China, which seems a manageable goal.

A theme of "Skyfall" is that today's world is changing faster than ever, which is as true of advertising as it is of espionage. That's why you're only going to see more brand cameos, a la the Bond films.

"The traditional tools of advertising are fading and marketers are looking for new things to do," Calkins said. "Product placement becomes one of those things that can engage people where other methods have no effect."

Talk about daunting obstacles to overcome while ultimately getting the job done.

philrosenthal@tribune.com

Twitter @phil_rosenthal

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Petraeus' biographer a military reservist, scholar

General David Petraeus is stepping down as CIA Director, citing an extra-marital affair.CNN reports the FBI had a tip that he was involved with his biographer Paula Broadwell and investigated to determine whether it posed a security risk.

Paula Broadwell first met fellow West Point graduate David Petraeus in the spring of 2006, when she was a graduate student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

He was a lieutenant general working on a counterinsurgency manual that would be tested during his command in Iraq. The university had invited him to give a speech.

Broadwell was in the Army Reserve after being recalled three times to active duty since the Sept. 11 attacks to work on counterterrorism issues and intended to return to active duty or get into the policy world, according to the preface of the Petraeus biography she would later write with a Washington Post editor.

Petraeus, who held much-praised military commands in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned Friday after admitting he had an extramarital affair, a disclosure that ended the retired four-star general's civilian career as director of the CIA.

He carried on the affair with Broadwell, now 40, according to several U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss publicly the investigation that led to the resignation. The FBI discovered the relationship by monitoring Petraeus' emails, after investigators were alerted that Broadwell may have had access to his personal email account, two of the officials said.

Broadwell wrote in the preface to "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus," published by Penguin in January, that while at Harvard, Petraeus passed along his card and offered to help her academic work on leadership.

"I later discovered that he was famous for this type of mentoring and networking, especially with aspiring soldier-scholars," Broadwell wrote, adding that "I took full advantage of his open-door policy to seek insight and share perspectives."

Broadwell is a research associate at Harvard's Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, according to her biography on Penguin's website. According to the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, she grew up in North Dakota and moved to Charlotte more than three years ago with her husband, a radiologist, and their two young sons.

The book began as research for her dissertation, a case study of Petraeus' leadership. It evolved into an authorized biography written with Washington Post editor Vernon Loeb after President Barack Obama put Petraeus in charge of Afghanistan in 2010.

Two years earlier, she wrote in the book's preface, while visiting Washington he had invited her to join him and his team for a run along the Potomac River.

"I'd earned varsity letters in cross-country and indoor and outdoor track and finished at the top of my class for athletics at West Point; I wanted to see if he could keep stride during an interview. Instead it became a test for me," she wrote. He eventually increased the pace "until the talk turned to heavy breathing, and we reached a 6-minute-per-mile pace. It was a signature Petraeus move. I think I passed the test, but I didn't bother to transcribe the interview."

In the Army Reserve, she specialized in military intelligence, spending time at the U.S. Special Operations Command and the FBI Counterterrorism Task Forces before pursuing an academic career, according to her Penguin bio. She "lived, worked, or traveled in more than 60 countries during more than 15 years of military service and work in geopolitical analysis and counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations," her bio states.

Broadwell made multiple trips to Afghanistan, with unprecedented access to Petraeus, and also spent time with his commanders across the country.

When Petraeus left the military and took the job at the CIA, Broadwell kept in contact with him and sometimes was invited to his office for events such as his meeting with actress Angelina Jolie.

"History has yet to fully judge Petraeus' service in Iraq and Afghanistan, his impact on the U.S. military and his rank among America's wartime leaders," Broadwell wrote in the preface. "But there is no denying that he achieved a great deal during his 37-year Army career, not the least of which was regaining the strategic initiative in both wars" after Sept. 11, 2001.

"His critics fault him for ambition and self-promotion. I will note in the pages that follow that he is driven and goal-oriented, but his energy, optimism and will to win stand out more for me than the qualities seized on by his critics."

With the book done, Broadwell told friends she was returning to her dissertation, using part of her research on Petraeus to complete her doctorate.

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