Bruce Sagan, who died Sept. 21 at 96 following a battle with cancer, left a significant mark in the worlds of Chicago journalism, theater and dance.

He built one of the country’s largest community newspaper groups, which, when he sold it in 1986, included nearly 30 papers that had a combined circulation of more than 400,000, with the Daily Southtown (formerly known as the Southtown Economist) as its flagship. He also was once one of the owners of the Chicago Sun-Times.

He spearheaded the push to create a permanent home for Steppenwolf Theatre, which opened on Halsted Street in Lincoln Park in 1991.

He also helped lead an effort to relocate the Joffrey Ballet from New York City to Chicago in 1995 and oversaw the creation of the dance company’s permanent home on Randolph Street.

Former P

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