Maggie Daley will be missed

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Maggie Daley (pictured last December) was reported in fine spirits after surgery Tuesday. | Rich Hein~Sun-Times

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Updated: January 7, 2012 8:08AM

I WAS OUT OF TOWN on vacation when I received the very sad news of former first lady Maggie Daley’s passing after her long and courageous battle with breast cancer. That news really hurt my heart because the times I have had the pleasure of seeing and giving this beautiful lady a smile and a big hug, has always made me feel that God truly put a wonderful and gracious lady in our lives and this city.

I have read most of the stories about this wife, mother, grandmother and friend to so many that it just saddens me that we never again will see her smiling face attending the many charitable, civic and social events that she spearheaded and supported in this town. Former Mayor Richard Daley and family truly were blessed all of these many years to be able to reach out to her for warmth, compassion, conversation, wisdom, laughter in good times and bad.

Renown historian Lerone Bennett told this columnist, “Few people noted that she was a moving force on the arts and humanities on the national level. I, along with Maggie Daley and John H. Bryan, were the only Chicagoans on the blue ribbon President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities appointed by President Bill Clinton in September 1994,” Bennett said. “We served along with other national figures including Quincy Jones, Rita Moreno and violinist Isaac Stern. And we put out a major paper on what art and the humanities should be in America titled ‘Creative America.’ ”

Maggie’s spirit will live on in all of our hearts and hopefully her name will grace the Chicago Cultural Center that has been proposed to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

THE LEGAL SCOOP: The Cook County Bar Association for the first in its 97 year history will host an Illinois Supreme Court Candidate Forum where judges who have announced their candidacy will give the public an opportunity to hear and assess their qualifications to wear this prestigious robe.

The forum is Jan. 5 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Loyola School of Law. The confirmed Illinois Supreme Court candidates participating include Justices Joy V. Cunningham, Aurelia Pucinski, Mary Jane Theis and Judge James G. Riley. The moderator for the evening is WGN-TV’s Bob Jordan.

Attorney Sharon Strickland is the president of the association, which will have its annual holiday party benefit Dec. 15 at Park 52.

MORE LEGAL News: Judge Arnette Hubbard, who recently had successful major surgery, is doing well and looking forward to returning to the bench in the very near future.

RESTAURANT NEWS: The Bears Israel Idonije and his business partner, acclaimed chef Alain Njike, will open Alain’s restaurant in the South Loop sometime this month. ... The popular Viaggio Ristorante owner, Sam Villardito, opens a Viaggio in Lincoln Park next spring.

TALKER ROSIE O’DONNELL, 49, and galpal, 40-year-old New York headhunter Michelle Rounds, announced their engagement and possibly will wed over the holidays. O’Donnell and Rounds met at a Starbucks this summer and came out as a couple in September. “The Rosie Show” star is also on the Dec./Jan. cover of the Michigan Avenue mag and will be the special guest at the mag’s holiday party Thursday at the Horseshoe Casino. ... Hall of Famer Richard Dent along with the Advil Congestion Relief Project will dedicate snow removal equipment for the new bicycle lanes Wednesday and raffle off 100 free bikes starting at 10:30 a.m. at Damen & Jackson Blvd....Bears’ Matt Forte and VS Pink Model Elsa Hosk hyping the new Pink NFL Collection at Water Tower Tuesday eve.

CHOWING DOWN: After Sunday’s Bears game, Jay Cutler and his on-again fiancee, actress Kristin Cavallari, and friends dined at Mastro’s. ... Beyonce and hubby Jay-Z recently dined after midnight at chef Art Smith’s Table Fifth-Two. By the way, chef Smith will visit his new eateries Southern Art & Bourbon Bar in Atlanta; Art and Soul in Washington, D.C., and his latest with Lady Gaga and her family, JoAnne’s Restaurant, opening soon in New York with Smith as the executive chef.

BIRTHDAY CANDLES: Attorney Herb Glieberman, Barbara Anderson, pr diva Noreen Heron Zautcke and Dominga (Mi Spa) Johnson. On Wednesday (Pearl Harbor Day): Doris Zollar, Elsa Tullos, Charlie Carlucci, Jack Taylor and to golden sweetie the Rev. Dr. Willie Barrow turning 87.