# RIP - Mr\_Downtown, Chicago Savant

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 10, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513 "2024-08-10T03:32:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513/1 "2024-08-10T03:32:45Z")

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All,  
I regret to inform you of the passing of Dennis McClendon, our friend @Mr_Downtown. I believe he helped with some board business & column consultation in the past and always seemed to show up when a map or train or Chicago expert was needed for a real tough question, both here on the boards but also on the radio and other local media. He and I happened to sit next to each other at a Chidope event some years ago and had a chance to chat and enjoy some food and drinks together. He was as pleasant and interesting as you’d expect.

Mr Downtown was quite active around the web and I learned of his death on Reddit. There are more remembrances in the comments there:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/1enxdk4/rip\_to\_chicago\_historian\_cartographer\_and/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/1enxdk4/rip_to_chicago_historian_cartographer_and/)

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513/2 "2024-08-10T03:48:33Z")

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Such sad news. May his memory be a blessing to all who knew him.

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513/3 "2024-08-10T13:07:07Z")

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Oh no! Years ago I mentioned in a thread here that I was going to Chicago for the first time, and he offered to meet us and give us some tips on what to do. We didn’t take him up on it, but I never forgot how kind that was for him to be willing to do for a stranger.

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mr-downtown-chicago-savant/1005513/4 "2024-08-27T15:50:59Z")

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Chicago Sun Times obituary, a delightful article.

> **[CTA L mapmaker Dennis McClendon, who found a calling in cartography, dead at 67](https://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2024/08/24/dennis-mcclendon-cta-mapmaker-chicago-bike-map-cartographer-history-dnc)**
>
> He also was a Chicago history expert tapped by WTTW-Channel 11 host Geoffrey Baer for answers. As a mapmaker, his vast output also included creating the Chicago Bike Map. His last project was creating the maps of the Near West Side that were provided...