[4] "To walk into this living room filled with smoke and clinking glasses and music and Studs (Terkel) and Nelson (Algren), Marcel Marceau, Mort Sahl, (Roger) Ebert -- you don't wind up in life being starstruck after that kind of childhood, and it's served me well.
[6] He did not earn a college degree, and worked a variety of jobs in his late teens and early twenties, including as a cab driver.
[7] He currently is a senior reporter for the Tribune, and he also typically writes front-page obituaries of notable figures, particularly those who have worked in the news media, literature, entertainment and politics.
Among those whom Kogan has memorialized with front-page obituaries are Milton J. Rosenberg,[8][9] Hugh Hefner,[10][11] Lois Weisberg,[12][13] Dennis Farina,[14][15] Roger Ebert,[16][17] former Chicago first lady Maggie Daley,[18][19] Studs Terkel,[20][21] Floyd Kalber[22][23] Irv Kupcinet,[24][25] Eleanor "Sis" Daley (with Gary Washburn),[26][27] Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz (with Noah Isackson),[28][29] Jeff MacNelly,[30][31] Charles M. Schulz,[32][33] Gene Siskel,[34][35] and Mike Royko (with Jerry Crimmins).
[36][37] Kogan also has written inside-the-paper obituaries of graphic designer Art Paul,[38][39] photographer Art Shay,[40][41] artist John Kearney,[42][43] writer Norbert Blei,[44][45] photographer Michael Abramson,[46][47] newspaperman Paul Galloway,[48][49] sportscaster Tim Weigel,[50][51] puppeteer Shari Lewis[52][53] and many others.
[54][55] For four years, Kogan edited the syndicated Ann Landers advice column that ran in the Tribune and was written by Eppie Lederer.