STELIOS IS STELLAR!! As one whom some old-school Greeks might call an “Amerikani” (I was named Terry so go easy on me), I was floored by the new film “Stelios” about the life and times of Greek folk music legend Stelios Kazantzidis. The historic Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, IL hosted a pre-screening in late April to a packed house of possibly 500 or more. The music was fantastic of course and the cinematography was as good as anything I’ve seen come out of Hollywood. Great acting, great script. Two hours of outstanding entertainment! At the end of the film is a quote from Frank Sinatra saying (paraphrasing) that had Stelios been born in America, he would have been bigger than Sinatra himself. High praise. Another quote read, (again, paraphrasing), if you added up all the other musicians in Greece, together they’d be half a Kazantzidis. Wow!
IN POPE VERAS: It’s veritas but for the purpose of this item, it’s George Veras, famous film director/producer whose credits include such vast and varied projects as NFL Today and Yanni at the Acropolis. George isn’t exactly a Midwesterner but Canton, OH is right on our periphery. In 2017, George had the honor of traveling to the Vatican with a contingent from the NFL Hall of Fame, for which he served as executive director at the time. He had the pleasure of personally greeting (the now late) Pope Francis. The College of Cardinals (not to be confused with Arizona Cardinals) had just entered Conclave to choose Francis’ successor as of this writing…Speaking of the NFL, this has been Chicago native Paige Dimakos’ busy season. She’s CEO of The Draft Network whose singular focus is the NFL entry draft of college talent. She’s currently based in Phoenix. Yes, the draft alone is that big a business.
LEGAL TECH: Northwestern U. alum Eunice Buhler recently returned to her alma mater as a guest speaker. Also a graduate of Stanford law, she’s a rising force in corporate law who’s presided over major tech M&A at a time of vast sea-change. Eunice also serves on the board of the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation.
LEGAL MED: Rachael Pontikes joined Blank Rome as a partner in its Life Sciences and Business Litigation group in the area of healthcare law.
BIZI BIZ: Naperville, IL native and TV 7 Miami news reporter Elitsa Bizios returned to the Windy City to assume the position of communications manager for John Koudounis, CEO of Calamos Investments.
EDU-HERO: Marianthi Koritsaris, principle at Chicago’s Plato Academy, was slated to receive a Gabby Award at a ceremony this June in New York.
AI DATA EXEC: Ann Kostopanagiotou, executive director at gen-AI firm NTT Data, was recognized as one of “The Top 50 Women Leaders of Illinois” for 2025 by Women We Admire. Ann is a past president of the Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association.
BUILDING RENAMED: When it’s two, it’s a trend. Greek American elected officials at the Metropolitan Reclamation District of greater Chicago now have two buildings named after them! The first is actually Melas Park in Mount Prospect, named after the late Nicholas Melas, longtime district president. In April, a water treatment facility was renamed after Mariyanna Spyropoulos, who in November won election as Cook County Circuit Court Clerk. She’s a past water district president as well.
9TH BOOK: Author Elaine Thomopoulos, Ph.D, has been churning out books on Greece and Hellenism and Greek Americans at a prolific pace for years. Elaine, who splits time between Chicago and Southwest Michigan, just released her latest, “Modern Greece.”
Z FAMILY MOURNS: Chicago Greeks at this time are mourning the passing of Vicky Zemenides, mother of three who departed much too soon after battling cancer. She’s the wife of Endy Zemenides, prominent attorney and public policy expert who’s long been a leader in the Greek American community. Memory eternal for Vicky.
STATE TITLE: Seniors Nikki Kerstein and Lily Spanos and their Montini Catholic girls team won the Illinois Class 3A state basketball title. Nikki, a 4-time all-state selection, was MVP of the tournament averaging 23 ppg. She heads to U. Wisconsin this Fall where she’ll join the women’s team. Montini’s coach is Philhellene Shannon Spanos, also Lily’s mom, and one of Shannon’s assistants is Francesca Kokkines, a former college player and Montini alum. Lily will play at Dickinson College, PA this Fall.
KEYS IN LIVING: Chicago-area native Roger Keys, founder of Marketing Keys, is a radio guy at heart who parlayed his media contacts into a stout career on the marketing side, including a few sports and entertainment clients. He counts Hooters among his longtime accounts. In April, Roger appeared on the cover of Northbook Living magazine which profiled him and his career.
CAPTION 1: Calamos Investments founder John P. Calamos Sr. released his autobiography “The Sky’s The Limit,” now available on Amazon and at various booksellers. The title of the book harkens to his time in the US military as a Vietnam fighter pilot, but also to his meteoric rise as a pioneer in the wealth management industry, specifically relating to convertible bonds which he personally innovated. John is also one of Greek America’s foremost philanthropists and serves as chairman of the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago. The global headquarters of Calamos Investments is in Naperville, IL.
CAPTION 2: Kyra Vidas, a 1000-point scorer at Chicago’s Taft High School, has been promoted to director of operations for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. She comes from rich basketball lineage. Her father, Kirk Vidas, was a sharpshooter for the Panathinaikos pro team in Greece in the 1980’s. In March at the 96th annual National Hellenic Invitational Tournament in Chicago, Kyra was inducted into the NHIBT Hall of Fame (photo credit: Kyra Vidas)
CAPTION 3: Few things scream “HELLAS” better than two Greeks talking St. Patrick’s Day! Leading up to this year’s holiday, NBC5 Chicago reporter Lexi Sutter joined NBC5 anchor Alex Maragos on his show to discuss the annual tradition of dying the Chicago River green (photo credit: Lexi Sutter)
