About Paige Wiser
I'm a free-lance writer with a full-time job: I'm Director of Communications at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. I'm an alum, too, Class of 1988. You should enroll your children there immediately.
In my down time, I'm the TV critic on ABC-7's "Windy City Live." On Sunday nights, I talk entertainment with WGN AM-720's Bill Leff and my former movie-reviewing partner, David Plummer. You can find a lot of my writing at Michigan Avenue magazine. I also free-lance as a muse when I can fit it into my schedule.
During the last couple of decades in the newspaper business, I served as reporter, critic, and columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times. Regular columns included "Planet Paige," in which I wrote about the quirkier side of the news; "Camera Obscura," which celebrated B movies; and "BioFeedback," which distilled celebrity biographies.
I earned my bachelor's degree at Notre Dame and my master's at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. I'm thinking of putting "philosopher/adventuress" on my business cards.
Contact me
paigewiser@me.comCategories
Blogroll
Archives
Monthly Archives: July 2011
BFF of the Day: Dreamboat Fannie
I met Dreamboat Fannie at the park district pool; her kid was playing “You’ve Got the Cheese Touch” with my kids.
(“Cheese Touch” seems to be some form of tag, inspired by the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie. I’m not sure what the significance of the cheese is. But the game is infinitely less annoying than “Marco Polo.”)
Laid-back and sunny, I would have guessed that Fannie was a California transplant. Shows what I know. She told me she was a former fifth-grade teacher – I could see that – and that she’s heavily involved in the roller derby scene in Madison, Wis.
That part took me by surprise. Although really, I should be wondering: Why don’t I know more roller girls?
“I’ve been roller skating since Michael Jackson’s ‘Pretty Young Thing,’” says Dreamboat Fannie, which is not her real name. Heart’s “Dreamboat Annie” is one of her favorite songs, and she insists she has a disproportionately large derriere. It’s not true, though; you’ll recall that we met in our swimsuits, so I would know.