Remembering Leanne Star – Chicago Splash Magazine Journalist

Leanne Star with her fiancé John D’Asto
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When a friend contacted me to say that Leanne Star had passed away, I was shocked. I had interacted with Leanne in my role as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief for Splash Magazines Worldwide to which Leanne had contributed articles for many years. I had always enjoyed these interactions and her wonderful articles. I knew just a little about Leanne’s life outside of Splash magazine, casual interactions exchanged online in the course of discussing a deadline or assignment.  She would mention traveling to see her grandchildren when it kept her from attending a Joffrey Ballet performance.  Or that it was a grandchild’s birthday so she was not available for a review at Court Theater.  I knew that she was a docent for the Chicago Architectural Center.  She had also told me that when she worked at Northwestern University, she had written an article about my husband who was a professor there. Although our interactions were largely on line, one day I was walking to “kill time” waiting for something to be fixed at a nearby hardware store when I did a double take.  There was Leanne raking leaves. She was equally surprised to see me and proudly showed me the home her daughter, an architect, had custom designed to her specifications.

Leanne with her Grandchildren

Chicago Splash Magazine was enhanced by Leanne’s contributions.  Her articles are incisive, compelling and beautifully written. Leanne Star’s Splash Magazines Worldwide articles are here. We will miss her.

As a journalist for Splash Magazines Worldwide she enjoyed writing about dance, especially ballet.  She regularly reviewed plays for Writer’s Theatre, Court Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, as well as local restaurants and eateries. Chicago Splash Magazine was enhanced by Leanne’s contributions.  Her articles were incisive, compelling and beautifully written. We will miss her. Leanne’s article are here

Leanne Star

Leanne died suddenly of natural causes on January 23 at age 72. She grew up in Park Forest, IL, the second of five siblings. As a child and young adult, she enjoyed ballet and even taught ballet to children for a brief time. She had a love of literature and writing, particularly French novels, and interned for Ann Landers prior to starting college. She started her undergraduate work at University of Chicago and received her bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Chicago. She taught literature and writing at Beloit College in Wisconsin, Colby College in Maine, and at universities in Taiwan and China before becoming a freelance writer for Northwestern University among other organizations. Leanne also loved trying new fitness classes, travel, and walking her dogs. She is survived by her fiance, John D’Asto.

Leanne Star’s three daughters generously shared memories about their mother.

Gera Rosenberg

My mom was always quick to offer her help to others.  From volunteering at Just Harvest, dropping off a pick-me-up for a friend, hosting Minyan, to pulling enough pens out of her purse to supply an entire Girl Scout troop (and still have some left over!), if my mom could find a way to help someone who needed it, she was sure to be there – usually with an exacting list and a methodical plan.


Maia Feigon

Most recently, she started a blog, which of course all my friends subscribed to. She loved adventure and travel, having lived in Taiwan and China in the late 70s/early 80s, and we had made plans, shortly before the Pandemic, to go to Denmark with her as our default babysitter and travel companion. She was a lifelong champion of progressive causes and passionate about politics and women’s rights. She had been so excited to see Biden sworn in as the 46th President and to witness the swearing in of the first Madam Vice President. She was the only mother I knew who went by her own last name, which while embarrassing at the time, made me proud so much later. She was a role model to her daughters and my daughters.


Brooke Feigon

My mom had a fearlessness that I did not inherit, but always admired. While living in China in the early 1980s (with 2 children under 4 no less!) she taught English classes at a United States military base.  After she learned a military ID was needed to buy items at the commissary, she proceeded to forge one in order to buy ice cream. My mom had a love of words and generously assisted friends and extended family in completing college and graduate school essays. I thought she’d be editing my own children’s college admissions applications in 12 years time. The last time she visited us in New York, she and my husband discussed solving the daily New York Times “Spelling Bee,” to which she quickly and routinely attained “Queen Bee” status, the highest rank. When the COVID-19 restrictions began, my mom stayed as busy and creative as ever. She started writing a daily newsletter for her grandchildren written from the viewpoint of her dogs.  In fact, these “Doggie Diaries” became a little too popular with my kids, who demanded new installments quicker than she could get them out.  Undaunted, my mom cheerfully enlisted guest editors. In addition, she gave online talks for the Chicago Architecture Center, took Zoom belly dancing classes, listened patiently while my son read to her on Zoom, and organized special story time Zooms for all her grandchildren, complete with props and acting roles by her fiancé, John. We will never be able to fill the hole her passing leaves.

Leanne Star

Photos are courtesy of Leanne’s family

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