Lisa Miner

Entertainment Editor/Regional Editor
  • Phone(847) 427-4516
  • Emaillminer@dailyherald.com

Lisa Friedman Miner is the Daily Herald's TimeOut! editor, responsible for the paper's extensive entertainment presence. She works with critics, writers and freelancers to plan coverage and reviews of movies, music, theater, dining, television and other aspects of local entertainment.

Miner's transition to editing came after more than 20 years of experience as one of the paper's senior writers. She joined the Daily Herald in 1984 and originally worked on the city staff covering news of Palatine and Inverness. In the mid-1980s, she moved to the features department where she wrote in-depth lifestyle pieces on a wide range of topics including health, family issues, entertainment and the arts.

In her two decades of reporting and editing, Miner has gotten to interview a number of famous people -- from former Sen. Paul Simon to actor Kirk Douglas -- but most enjoyed writing about engaging suburbanites. She received a number of awards for feature-writing and investigative reporting.

While still writing when time allowed, Miner was named assistant features editor in 2005. She planned and edited several of the newspaper's lifestyle sections. In the process, she learned about topics as diverse as the economic downturn and the damage done by lawn grubs.

A native of Chicago and north suburban Morton Grove, Miner is an alum of Maine East High School in Park Ridge -- the alma mater of Harrison Ford and several other entertainment notables. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. Throughout college, she worked at the Daily Illini and served as the college newspaper's editor-in-chief her senior year. She interned at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Miner's current position as TimeOut! editor fits perfectly with her own interests. As a lifelong reader, movie buff and theater lover, she boasts a vast knowledge of entertainment trivia and the ability to recite the first 18 lines of the general prologue of "The Canterbury Tales" in its original Middle English.

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Fox Valley Rep does ‘Murder’ lite

Feb 07 2013 | 6:05 pm - Early on in Fox Valley Rep's "The Art of Murder," Annie Brooks tells her lout of a husband that there's a "monster" in all of us. That proves all-too-true in Joe DiPietro's comic mystery, a tale of three monsters, really — all willing to kill...

Paramount’s ‘Music Man’ a true charmer

Jan 22 2013 | 5:41 pm - Seeing Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" at Aurora’s Paramount Theatre might just give you a new appreciation of this stage staple. With its fine cast and a nice balance between the splashy “Seventy-six Trombones” and quieter...

Countdown to Christmas: A day-by-day guide to holiday fun

Dec 13 2012 | 6:05 pm - Shopping, baking and eccentric relatives got you down? Time for a breather. Here's our day-by-day guide to fun, festive entertainment events to get you through the rest of the holiday season.

Classic cocktails, casual setting set Annex apart

Nov 20 2012 | 4:33 pm - Barrington's Park Avenue Wine Bar was sleek, chic and, frankly, a little intimidating. And it wasn't just the poached octopus on the menu that made it seem that way. So when the stylish wine bar went out over the summer, owners replaced it with The...

‘Potted Potter’ — complete with Quidditch — sweeps into Chicago

Nov 07 2012 | 2:40 pm - To entertain Harry Potter fans waiting for the release of the sixth book, comedians Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner put on a 20-minute sketch about the boy wizard and his pals. "The response was amazing," Clarkson said. So the two created "Potter...

A half-dozen above-par entertainment options for Ryder Cup week

Aug 30 2012 | 1:09 pm - Man cannot live on golf alone — even in Medinah. So if you’re planning to be in town for the Ryder Cup in late September, you’re going to want to get out and see some sights. If you're looking for something less touristy, we have a...

How about pitching a tent in a ballpark or a zoo?

Jun 15 2012 | 5:39 am - Sleeping under the stars takes on new meaning when you do it on a suburban ball field or doze off to the howling of nearby red wolves. Thanks to family overnights at a host of fun locations, you can do both — and a lot more. “It's fun to...

Beer Market aims to please with hundreds of choices

Jun 07 2012 | 6:04 am - Imagine this, beer lovers: A bar that serves more than 500 different brews. No food, but you're welcome to bring your own — or order it from a handful of close-by places that will deliver dinner to your bar stool. Nirvana, right? Welcome to...

Suburban bars celebrating Craft Beer Week

May 15 2012 | 11:30 am - Though Chicago Craft Beer Week has been around for three years now, Bigby's Pour House in Addison is jumping into the celebration for the first time by hosting a suburban kickoff party. The reason? “We wanted to let people know there are great...

Stellar ‘Jersey Boys' makes a welcome return

Apr 12 2012 | 9:16 pm - "Jersey Boys" makes a triumphant return to Chicago. The show charts the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from neighborhood thugs to international superstars, fluidly merging music and story in a way that few jukebox musicals manage.

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