Cultural Critic Andrew Patner Dies

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 3, 2015 5:45PM

Andrew Patner, one of Chicago's best and brightest cultural critics whose byline has appeared in local papers for decades, died unexpectedly Tuesday. Mr. Patner was 55.

Mr. Patner's died from a bacterial infection, according to his longtime partner Tom Bachtell. Mr. Patner was a third-generation Chicagoan who was best known around town for his classical music reviews in the Sun-Times. A former staffer and editor at Chicago magazine, Mr. Patner worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal during his career and his writing appeared in The New Yorker and Christian Science Monitor. He was a producer and host at WBEZ for eight years and, aside from his Sun-Times work, was a critic at large for classical music station WFMT, where his commentaries aired three times a week.

We've been admirers of Patner's at Chicagoist from afar for years and he will be missed.

[Robert Feder]