Taylor Pensoneau covered the Illinois Statehouse beat for the St. Louis Post Dispatch from Oct.1965-Jan.1978, reporting on the Richard Ogilvie, Dan Walker, and Jim Thompson gubernatorial administrations. Following this, he worked for several years as a lobbyist at the Illinois Coal Association, and while there began a third career, writing books on Illinois' political and criminal history.
Photos
Caption
Taylor’s father, Leslie E. Pensoneau, taken as a young man. Leslie operated a men’s clothing store during much of his life.
Where:
Belleville, ILWhen:
around the 1930sOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor standing on the front steps of his family home on South Jackson Street.Where:
Belleville, ILWhen:
1945 or 1946Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor as a pupil at High Mount Elementary School. Where:
Swansea, ILWhen:
1951 or 1952Ownership:
Unknown
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Photo of Taylor with his sister Leslie Ann Pensoneau at Scott Air Force Base.Where:
Belleville ILWhen:
1953 or 1954Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Photo of Taylor, during his senior year after he won a high school news writing contest at Washington University in St. Louis. Standing at the far left is Miss Lillian Jossem, the journalism teacher who spurred my interest in becoming a reporter.
Where:
Belleville Township High School When:
1957-1958Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
The house on South Jackson Street in Belleville, Illinois where Taylor lived for much of the 1940s.
Where:
Belleville, ILWhen:
UnknownOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
School photo of the Junior College football team, taken during the fall of 1959.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
fall of 1959Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Family photo of Taylor with his sister Leslie Ann and younger brother Terry.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
Christmas 1967Ownership:
Unknown
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Taylor’s brother Terry (on the left) as a United States Marine Lieutenant stationed in Vietnam. He commanded a rifle platoon and was killed in action on December 16, 1968.
Where:
VietnamWhen:
UnknownOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
George Thomas Duffy at the University of Missouri at Columbia after resigning as editor of the East St. Louis Journal in 1961. Duffy worked him hard both night and day to prepare him for the job of reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
1962Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor as a young Post-Dispatch reporter, covering one of the first civil rights demonstrations in St. Louis in 1963 or 1964.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
1963 or 1964Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Photo of Taylor with his mother Bernice (Bee) Pensoneau (maiden name was Taylor).
Where:
UnknownWhen:
in the early 1980sOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor with Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie after he had interviewed him at the request of the station on his governorship. The interview took place a few weeks after his losing bid in the November 1972 for reelection as governor.
Where:
Springfield ILWhen:
November 1972Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Standing (l-r) are Thomas Drennan (Ogilvie’s principal political confidant), Jeremiah Marsh (the governor’s legal counsel) and Brian Whalen (Ogilvie’s deputy governor) during a reception in recognition of the publication of Taylor’s book on Ogilvie.Where:
The Chicago ClubWhen:
November 24, 1997Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Paul Simon was lieutenant governor of Illinois, and Taylor was the Illinois political writer for the Post-Dispatch. Simon was photographed while spending an evening at the Pensoneau home.Where:
Southern View, a suburb of SpringfieldWhen:
1970 or 1971Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Photo of Governor James R. Thompson (far right) convened a summit on the Illinois Coal Industry. Taylor Pensoneau, Jim Rea (wearing glasses; a member of the General Assembly from Christopher), and Don Coovert (a coal industry tax expert).
Where:
Executive Mansion in Springfield When:
mid-1980sOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau as the Vice President of the Illinois Coal Association, paying a visit to a surface mine in Southern Illinois.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
early 1980sOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau (ICA VP) and Joseph Spivey (the president of the Illinois Coal Association) together with Congressman Glenn W. Poshard (center) from Southern Illinois to discuss the industry’s problems in the state.Where:
Washington DCWhen:
October 1989 Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Governor Jim Edgar announcing a program intended to stimulate sales of Illinois coal during a visit with Taylor Pensoneau and others at a surface mine in Perry CountyWhere:
UnknownWhen:
May 31, 1991Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Where:
UnknownWhen:
UnknownOwnership:
Unknown
Caption
Governor Jim Edgar and Taylor Pensoneau viewing a mining site in Southern Illinois after signing a bill intended to benefit the Illinois coal industry.
Where:
UnknownWhen:
September 1, 1994Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor and Elizabeth Pensoneau pictured on the day of their wedding. Where:
UnknownWhen:
October 14, 1995Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor’s biography of Illinois Senate leader W. Russell Arrington was introduced through presentations in the Illinois General Assembly. l-r: Mrs. Michael (Kate) Arrington, former Governor Jim Edgar, Michael Arrington and Michael J. Madigan Where:
UnknownWhen:
February 21, 2007Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor interviewing former Governor Dan Walker in a restaurant. Taylor was gathering information for the writing of Walker’s biography, Taylor’s first book.
Where:
Del Mar, CaliforniaWhen:
192Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
A reception following the publishing of the Walker biography. Photographed alongside Walker, Taylor Pensoneau, and an unidentified woman is Bob Ellis, a West Frankfort newsman and later mayor of West Frankfort who coauthored the biography.
Where:
West Frankfort, ILWhen:
June 1993 Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau and Joe Pearson (left) discussing Illinois coal matters with then Governor George Ryan (center). Taylor(president of the Illinois Coal Association), and Pearson (chief executive of a coal company operating in Illinois).
Where:
Edwardsville ILWhen:
2001Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor is speaking to those assembled at the reception following the publication of his biography of former Governor Ogilvie.
Where:
Chicago ClubWhen:
November 24, 1997 Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor discussing Illinois coal issues with the US Senator Richard Durbin (far right). Taylor was still the president of the Illinois Coal Association. Between Durbin and Pensoneau is Thomas Amberg, the head of a Chicago public relations firm.
Where:
Springfield ILWhen:
2002Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau with Antoinette Giancana, the daughter of mobster Sam Giancana (Mafia Princess.) The photo was taken during a gathering of Chicago crime writers, an event to which Taylor was invited as a result book on the Shelton gang. Where:
UnknownWhen:
September 2004 Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau and his son, Taylor Terry Pensoneau,. From the early 1990s through 2004, Taylor attended ten Rose Bowl games, mostly with his son (an attorney) who is also an avid college football fan.Where:
Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, CaliforniaWhen:
2001Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Taylor Pensoneau's official photo from the 1973-1974 Illinois Blue Book.Where:
UnknownWhen:
1973-1974Ownership:
Unknown