EDMUND O. LAWLER teaches journalism at DePaul University and is the author of five books. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. THE AUTHOR SCOOP What's the history of your name? My last name is a distillation of my ancestral name O'Leathlobhar, which is Gaelic for half-leper. What was your first job? Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago. I got to cover cops, politicians and crooks. Some of the categories overlapped. If you owned a horse, what would you name it? Mr. Ed What's the farthest you've ever traveled? I traveled to the Persian Gulf in 2004 where I taught journalism for two weeks at the University of Bahrain. What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to play shortstop for the Chicago White Sox.