December Midday Program
There is no vaccine. It can strike anyone. The chief occupant of the White House. A famous author. A lexicographer. A steel magnate.
When it takes hold the mania begins to fester and then erupts in a messianic drive to invent a new communications method that will require everyone in the United States to unlearn something they’ve been taught (or not) since childhood.
Before it subsides it can bankrupt the infected. Expose them to public ridicule. And provide a barrel of laughs to all of us who read about it, hear about it, and watch from a safe distance.
It’s the contagion that Gabe Henry reveals in his exceptionally entertaining book, Enough Is Enuf – Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell (HarperCollins 2025). Henry, also editor of Eating Salad Drunk: Haikus for the Burnout Age by Comedy Greats, will tell the sad tale of how English was mixed in a great bowl into which was dropped Celtic, Latin, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman and then seasoned by the whims of Wiliam Caxton. And about the Quixotic missions by the great and the obscure to rationalize it, as they are consumed by the thought, “If only everyone would just listen. My scheme makes so much sense.”
Quick! Register today before our whole website is taken over by emojis!
Live attendance and Carolers Luncheon
View Zoom program on eighth floor, Steel Room, Union League Club. Presentation begins at 12:00 PM CT. Optional buffet lunch with carving station, wide selection of food and deserts, Christmas carolers, and a holiday toast. A chance to dine and linger with fellow Caxtonians. Reservations and pre-payment required by 12:00 p.m. 12/09/25.
Zoom presentation is free and open to all.
Zoom begins at 12:00PM CT/1:00 PM ET. Preregistration required via website.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may find it of interest.
Transportation to the Union League Club at 65 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago.
The Union League Club is easily accessible through many public transportation methods. Additionally, the following options are available for those who wish to travel by cab or car.
The Union League Club front desk offers a connection to cab service through Curb. The desk will call cabs for members and all guests while allowing riders to remain inside until the cab arrives. No curb side wait. Cabs will accept all payment forms, following the payment procedures you experience with a street-hailed cab.
If you are traveling by car, the Union League Club offers valet parking for Caxton events at $35.00. You must register and prepay in advance through the Caxton Club. Valet parking options will now be included as an option with all event registrations.
Spot Hero is an independent parking option, generally offering spots at the 318 S. Federal Street garage adjacent to the Union League Club. You may reserve and pay for a guaranteed parking spot through the Spot Hero app or website (spothero.com).
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