Jack Helbig, a thoughtful, sometimes caustic Chicago theater critic, newspaper writer at the Reader, Daily Herald, and, in recent years Wednesday Journal, for years a high school English teacher, and an Oak Parker, died Jan. 28, 2025. He was 66.
Helbig is being remembered across all spheres of his life for his love of theater — he was also a playwright — the sharp tongue and humor he brought to his reviews and the generous spirit in which he engaged with people.
He taught for 17 years at Holy Trinity High School in Chicago and more recently at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School.
Marc Stopeck, creator of the Journal’s Shrubtown comic, taught with Helbig at Rochelle Zell and said, “I commuted two hours a day with Jack for five months while we taught together at the same school. With Jack, there was never a loss for conversational topics: teaching, politics, ’60s television, Jewish history, ’70s television, Jack’s dog, theater, TikTok, more ’60s television, high school reading lists, and on and on and on. For that brief time, my commute was often the most interesting, funny and engaging part of my day. It was a gift that I will always be grateful for.”
