Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Ribicoff Gestapo Tactics
Abstract
Abstract-2018
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Early life, early career as journalist & Kerner administration
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Early life, early career as journalist & Kerner administration
Interview Session 03 (Audio)
Taylor’s observations on the Richard Ogilvie administration
Interview Session 04 (Audio)
Taylor’s observations on the Richard Ogilvie administration
Interview Session 05 (Audio)
Observations on the 1972 election & Dan Walker administration
Interview Session 06 (Audio)
Observations on the 1972 election & Dan Walker administration
Interview Session 07 (Audio)
Jim Thompson’s administration & Pensoneau w/ IL Coal Assn
Interview Session 08 (Audio)
Jim Thompson’s administration & Pensoneau w/ IL Coal Assn
Interview Session 09 (Audio)
Jim Edgar’s administration & Pensoneau w/ IL Coal Assn
Interview Session 10 (Audio)
Jim Edgar’s administration & Pensoneau w/ IL Coal Assn
Interview Session 11 (Audio)
Reflections on George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich administrations
Interview Session 12 (Audio)
Taylor reflects on the evolution of journalism in the United States
Interview Session (Audio)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter's experiences during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago
Transcript I
Transcript II
Photos
Caption
Taylor’s father, Leslie E. Pensoneau, taken as a young man (around the 1930s) Belleville, IL. Leslie operated a men’s clothing store during much of his life.
Where:
Belleville, IL
When:
around the 1930s
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
The house on South Jackson Street in Belleville, Illinois where Taylor lived for much of the 1940s.
Where:
Belleville, IL
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Taylor standing on the front steps of his family home on South Jackson Street in Belleville, Illinois (around 1945 or 1946).
Where:
Belleville, IL
When:
1945 or 1946
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Taylor as a pupil at High Mount Elementary School in Swansea, Illinois (around 1951 or 1952).
Where:
Swansea, IL
When:
1951 or 1952
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Photo of Taylor with his sister Leslie Ann Pensoneau at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville in 1953 or 1954.
Where:
Scott Air Force Base
When:
1953 or 1954
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
Photo of Taylor, during his senior year after he won a high school news writing contest at Washington University in St. Louis. Standing at the far left is Miss Lillian Jossem, the journalism teacher who spurred my interest in becoming a reporter.
Where:
Belleville Township High School
When:
1957-1958
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption:
School photo of the Junior College football team, taken during the fall of 1959.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Fall of 1959
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption:
George Thomas Duffy at the University of Missouri at Columbia after resigning as editor of the East St. Louis Journal in 1961. Duffy worked him hard both night and day to prepare him for the job of reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Where:
Unknown
When:
1962
Ownership:
May be restricted. Source citation is unknown. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Taylor as a young Post-Dispatch reporter, covering one of the first civil rights demonstrations in St. Louis in 1963 or 1964.
Where:
St. Louis
When:
1963 or 1964
Ownership:
May be restricted. Source citation is unknown. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Family photo, Christmas 1967, of Taylor with his sister Leslie Ann and younger brother Terry.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Christmas 1967
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
Taylor’s brother Terry (on the left) as a United States Marine Lieutenant stationed in Vietnam. He commanded a rifle platoon and was killed in action on December 16, 1968.
Where:
Vietnam
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Photo taken when Paul Simon was lieutenant governor of Illinois, and Taylor was the Illinois political writer for the Post-Dispatch. Simon was photographed while spending an evening at the Pensoneau home.
Where:
Southern View, a suburb of Springfield
When:
1970 or 1971
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
Taylor with Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie after he had interviewed him at the request of the station on his governorship. The interview took place a few weeks after his losing bid in the November 1972 for reelection as governor.
Where:
Springfield IL
When:
November 1972
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau's official photo from the 1973-1974 Illinois Blue Book.
Where:
Illinois Blue Book, 73-74
When:
1973-1974
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Photo of Taylor with his mother Bernice (Bee) Pensoneau (maiden name was Taylor), in the early 1980s.
Where:
Unknown
When:
early 1980s
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Photo taken during the early 1980s, Taylor Pensoneau as the Vice President of the Illinois Coal Association, paying a visit to a surface mine in Southern Illinois.
Where:
Southern Illinois
When:
early 1980s
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
Photo of Governor James R. Thompson (far right) convened a summit on the Illinois Coal Industry. Taylor Pensoneau, Jim Rea (wearing glasses; a member of the General Assembly from Christopher), and Don Coovert (a coal industry tax expert).
Where:
Executive Mansion in Springfield
When:
mid-1980s
Ownership:
May be restricted. Source citation is unknown. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau (ICA VP) and Joseph Spivey (the president of the Illinois Coal Association) together with Congressman Glenn W. Poshard (center) from Southern Illinois to discuss the industry’s problems in the state.
Where:
Washington DC
When:
October, 1989
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Photo of Governor Jim Edgar on May 31, 1991, announcing a program intended to stimulate sales of Illinois coal during a visit with Taylor Pensoneau and others at a surface mine in Perry County.
Where:
Perry County, Illinois
When:
May 31, 1991
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Photo of Taylor interviewing former Governor Dan Walker in a restaurant in Del Mar, California in 1992. Taylor was gathering information for the writing of Walker’s biography, Taylor’s first book.
Where:
Del Mar, California
When:
1992
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
A reception following the publishing of the Walker biography. Photographed alongside Walker, Taylor Pensoneau, and an unidentified woman is Bob Ellis, a West Frankfort newsman and later mayor of West Frankfort who coauthored the biography.
Where:
West Frankfort, IL
When:
June, 1993
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Photo of Governor Jim Edgar and Taylor Pensoneau on September 1, 1994, viewing a mining site in Southern Illinois after signing a bill intended to benefit the Illinois coal industry.
Where:
Southern Illinois
When:
September 1, 1994
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Taylor and Elizabeth Pensoneau pictured on the day of their wedding, October 14, 1995.
Where:
Unknown
When:
October 14, 1995
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Standing (l-r) are Thomas Drennan (Ogilvie’s principal political confidant), Jeremiah Marsh (the governor’s legal counsel) and Brian Whalen (Ogilvie’s deputy governor) during a reception in recognition of the publication of Taylor’s book on Ogilvie.
Where:
The Chicago Club
When:
November 24, 1997
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
November 24, 1997 at the Chicago Club, Taylor is speaking to those assembled at the reception following the publication of his biography of former Governor Ogilvie.
Where:
Chicago Club
When:
November 24, 1997
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau and Joe Pearson (left) discussing Illinois coal matters with then Governor George Ryan (center). Taylor(president of the Illinois Coal Association), and Pearson (chief executive of a coal company operating in Illinois).
Where:
Edwardsville IL
When:
2001
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau and his son, Taylor Terry Pensoneau,. From the early 1990s through 2004, Taylor attended ten Rose Bowl games, mostly with his son (an attorney) who is also an avid college football fan.
Where:
Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California
When:
2001
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption:
Taylor discussing Illinois coal issues with the US Senator Richard Durbin (far right). Taylor was still the president of the Illinois Coal Association. Between Durbin and Pensoneau is Thomas Amberg, the head of a Chicago public relations firm.
Where:
Springfield IL
When:
2002
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau with Antoinette Giancana, the daughter of mobster Sam Giancana (Mafia Princess.) The photo was taken during a gathering of Chicago crime writers, an event to which Taylor was invited as a result of his book on the Shelton gang.
Where:
Unknown
When:
September 2004
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Taylor’s biography of Illinois Senate leader W. Russell Arrington was introduced through presentations in the Illinois General Assembly. l-r: Mrs. Michael (Kate) Arrington, former Governor Jim Edgar, Michael Arrington and Michael J. Madigan
Where:
Unknown
When:
February 21, 2007
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.