Michael Sneed biography

Among the stories Sneed has reported on in her wide-ranging career are the conflict in Northern Ireland, the American Indian uprising at Wounded Knee, the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the return of American hostages from Iran, the funerals of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Princess Diana, and the recent wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Sneed has conducted one-on-one interviews with the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and his son, current Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, convicted former Gov. George Ryan, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Sneed has twice received the Edward Scott Beck Award, in 1977 for her series on child pornography and the following year for her coverage of the Jonestown massacre in Guyana. She has also received the Associated Press Award, the United Press International Award and the Chicago Headline Club's Peter Lisagor Award. In 2005, she was named the Chicago Journalists Association's Journalist of the Year.

Sneed has been at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1986, following 18 years as a reporter, editor and columnist at the Chicago Tribune. She began her career in 1967 at the late, lamented City News Bureau, where her first assignment was covering a suicide jumper from a downtown high-rise.

The Sneed Column, which appears Tuesday through Friday and on Sunday on page four of the Sun-Times, is a brokerage house of information. Whether it's the latest local lore, political probe or Hollywood gossip, Sneed has the scoop and is always eager to share it with her readers.

She lives in the northern suburbs with her son. And yes, Michael is her real name.