Tony Fitzpatrick, a Chicago artist in many realms, has died at 66

Tony Fitzpatrick, a boundlessly creative man whose talents enriched the worlds of visual arts, theater, film, radio, literature and random conversations, and who mentored and influenced a generation or two of younger artists, died Saturday morning at Rush Medical Center in Chicago. He was 66.

According to his wife Michele, he died of a heart attack. He had been at the hospital awaiting a double lung transplant.

Michele had been with him, as had their two adult children, son Max and daughter Gaby (Gabrielle). Fitzpatrick had been in the hospital for many weeks, entertaining with his stories and palpable optimism the nurses on the intensive care floor as well as a steady stream of visiting friends and admirers.

As he recently told an old friend, “It seems like everybody wants to wish me w