Roger Bennett Loves America (Especially Chicago)
WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with soccer commentator, podcaster & now New York Times bestselling author Roger Bennett to talk about his new book, (RE)BORN IN THE USA:
LISTEN
“(Chicago) is the most fluid city that I’ve ever lived in, where the neighborhoods are transitioning, and constantly reinventing (themselves), adding new layers of history. It’s a city that I just adore walking around, it’s a city that the stories it tells about itself are genuinely and remarkably fascinating. So, to walk around Chicago is to feel alive.” - Roger Bennett talking about his first American love … the city of Chicago.
Roger Bennett celebrating becoming an American citizen in 2018
After reading Roger Bennett’s wonderful new memoir, (RE)BORN IN THE USA: AN ENGLISHMAN’S LOVE LETTER TO HIS CHOSEN HOME, it’s hard to imagine anyone loving American pop culture more than the celebrated soccer commentator, podcaster and broadcaster. The Liverpool native is known to millions of soccer fans as one of the co-hosts of the popular podcast and now TV show, MEN IN BLAZERS. But soccer only plays a small part in Bennett’s memoir, the book offers a funny, heartwarming portrait of an English lad who grew up loving American films, music, sports and optimism. Bennet writes lovingly about what the United States represented to him as a young person trying to figure himself out in Northern England.
There’s also a very strong Chicago connection. While Bennett currently calls New York City home, his first American love is actually Chicago. Thanks in part to a Bennett family lore (his great grandfather wanted to move to Chicago, but instead settled in Liverpool), a young Roger Bennett became a die-hard Bears fan. A series of landmark events helped cement Bennet’s love of Chicago, and today he’s counts the White Sox and Pequod’s pizza among his favorite things.
Teenage Roger Bennett spent a month of his 1986 summer with a Northbrook family.
“Many Americans have been blessed to be here for multi generations, and I think they take so much of this for granted. And I wanted to offer them is a sense of the power of the idea of America, it’s the central idea of my life.” - Roger Bennett talking about his hopes for what readers take away from his new book.
Young Roger Bennett keeping it real.
