Our final reader for The Frunchroom this month is Mario D. Parker, a writer for Bloomberg News in Chicago, covering energy and also general assignment and breaking news stories across the Midwest.

  At Bloomberg, he’s reported on economic decline in Appalachia, the resurgence of coal mining in southern Illinois and the impact of Mexican cartels on Chicago’s drug trade. Mario’s work has been recognized by the Chicago Headline Club, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the National Association of Black Journalists.

He began his career with Bloomberg in its Washington bureau as a general assignment reporter, after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His essays have been published in the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor and he’s a contributing writer to Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood, a book of essays curated by author and journalist John W. Fountain.

A Maywood native, Mario now lives in Chatham. He will be reading about his experiences attending church on the South side.

Join Mario and the rest of our readers this Thursday the 21st at 730pm at O’Rourke’s Office.