We are sad to report that a good Friend of Meigs Field has passed away.

Ed Lowenstern, known to most under his pen name, Ed Lowe, has written many columns supportive of Meigs, the Friends of Meigs Field, and critical of plans and actions to close the airport.  He wrote for a number of years for the River North News, before taking his talents to Inside Publications.  He also wrote for many other local and national publications.

In 2005, Ed was presented with the "Above and Beyond" award by the Meigs Action Coalition for his journalistic work in support of the beleaguered airport.

We will miss Ed a lot.

Below is the item that will run this week in Inside Publications (http://www.insideonline.com/) :

Senior Writer Ed Lowe dies

Ed Lowenstern, a longtime contributor to Inside Publications, died Saturday, Oct. 21, at the age of 80. Under the name Ed Lowe, he wrote a regular column called The LoweDown for Inside Lincoln Park that attracted a substantial following, with no subject safe from his analysis and wit. Ed traveled the world with his wife, Lois, and brought back well-researched, eminently readable articles that made readers feel we'd been there, too. With photos by Lois and text by Ed, each article presented a satisfying "inside view" of an interesting place.

Fortunately for the readers of Inside, Ed also covered many critical news stories. His outstanding education enabled him to write insightfully on difficult, complex urban issues, clarifying what was at stake and why there were no easy answers.

The staff at Inside will miss him even more than the readers. We could always count on Ed to be a wise and compassionate voice among all the cacophony in the world. He made the world a much better place with his life.

Besides his wife, Lois (nee Gilbert), Ed leaves three children, Ken (Margy) Love, Linda Pady, and Michael (Katherine) Lowenstern. He had eight grandchildren: Christopher, Robert, Jennifer, Sarah, Andrew, Denver, Danielle, and Ariel, as well as three great grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held at Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Drive, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29. In lieu of flowers, memorials in his name may be made to the American Heart Association, 208 S. LaSalle St., Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60604. For more information, call Weinstein Funeral Home Chicago Chapel at (773) 761-2400.

A few travel articles and several LoweDowns have not yet run in the paper, and Inside plans to print them in future issues.