[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING AND HONORING LEWIS MANILOW

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 13, 2018

  Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Speaker, today I remember and honor the life 
of Lewis Manilow, who passed away on December 12 of last year.
  Lew was born in 1927 to immigrant parents, and adopted from an 
orphanage as an infant by Chicago real estate developer Nathan Manilow 
and his wife, Minette. He attended the University of Illinois at 
Urbana-Champaign for one year before earning his bachelor's degree from 
the University of Chicago and graduating from Harvard Law School in 
1951.
  A gifted lawyer, Lew began his career as an assistant state's 
attorney in Cook County, Illinois. Lew eventually went into private 
practice, where he assisted in his father's development of south 
suburban Park Forest, and ultimately served as president of his 
father's company, continuing his legacy of reinvigorating neighborhoods 
on the south side and south suburbs of Chicago.
  From an early age, Lew displayed a passion for the arts, and he 
devoted much of his adult life to nurturing institutions that made 
Chicago an international center of culture. In 1956, Lew was part of a 
group that launched a theater company in the Fine Arts Building, and 
was the visionary behind the creation of ``theater row'' in Chicago's 
north loop, now home to the Goodman Theater. Lew supported his vision 
with his generosity, co-chairing the campaign that funded the 
relocation of the Goodman Theater and personally donating $1,000,000 to 
help finance the move.
  Lew's drive to make Chicago one of the world's cultural capitals did 
not end with the theater. As one of its founding sponsors, he was a 
powerhouse supporting the creation of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary 
Art, and served as its board president for five years. Lew also donated 
a number of pieces from his personal collection to the museum, and 
endowed a curatorship to ensure future generations would continue to 
enjoy the best of contemporary art at the MCA.
  In 2000, Lew's service to the arts was recognized when he was awarded 
the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton.
  In addition to his work supporting the cultural institutions of 
Chicago, Lew somehow found time to be an active participant in the 
civic life of our state and nation. He devoted his time and energy to 
organizing committees in three presidential campaigns, and was a 
regular advisor to the mayors of Chicago and other civic leaders.
  Lew's greatest legacy, however, may be his family. Survived by his 
very beloved wife Susan, Lew also leaves a loving family of two sons 
and a daughter, two stepsons, 15 grandchildren and his biological 
brother (who he met for the first time in 2008 after tracing his roots 
from orphanage and birth records).
  On behalf of all of Lew's countless friends and associates, I want to 
say thank you for all that Lew did for the people of Illinois and our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope we might all keep in our thoughts and prayers the 
Manilow family and friends as they mourn their loss. In that spirit, I 
celebrate Lew's life and the impact he made on the city of Chicago, our 
country and all he touched with his generosity and care.

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