Andrew Patner

Andrew Patner
Born	(1959-12-17)December 17, 1959 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 3, 2015(2015-02-03) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Kenwood Academy University of Wisconsin-Madison(B.A.) University of Chicago Law School
Occupation	Journalist, broadcaster, Arts critic, author, interviewer
Partner(s)	Tom Bachtell

Andrew Patner (December 17, 1959 – February 3, 2015) was an American Chicago-based journalist, broadcaster, critic, and interviewer. From 1998 until his death in 2015 he served as Critic-at-Large for WFMT radio, which broadcast his wide-ranging weekly interview and commentary program, Critical Thinking. He was also a regular contributor of arts journalism to the Chicago Sun-Times from 1991 until his death.

Biography

Previously, he worked as an arts critic for WBEZ and as a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. His book about the iconoclastic journalist I.F. Stone was published in 1988. Patner was born in Chicago and attended Kenwood Academy, the College of the University of Chicago, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, the Chicago Maroon, the University of Chicago Law School, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he graduated with a B.A. in history. In 1993, he became the first regular writer for a mainstream Chicago newspaper to write about being gay. His partner of 25 years, Tom Bachtell, is an acclaimed illustrator for The New Yorker magazine.