Mike Leonard: A simple question revealed a remarkable story

Some stories sneak up on you.

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For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

This is one of them.

James Hundley is a 63-year-old Chicago mailman whose route includes a large building where my two sons and a son-in-law have their video production office. Every three or four weeks I pay a visit, always hoping to run into Mr. Hundley.

Some people are fountains, some are drains.

James Hundley is a geyser.

Never have I met a more friendly, polite, upbeat person.

But there's more to him than that, something I discovered a few weeks ago by asking a simple question.

"Where are you from?"

His answer triggered images in my mind, images from old black and white newsreels, some difficult to watch. 

I knew in an instant that James Hundley, the happy mailman, had seen humanity at its worst.

How he got through that...how we got through that...is a story for the ages. 

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