Siegel, William Arthur "Bill" Bill Siegel brought his deep, strong heart to everything that interested him, and widely shared his wisdom, whip-smart humor, and keen insights. A father who was thrilled by and committed to his two kids, Louie and Johanna, Bill was also a brilliant filmmaker, educator, storyteller, interlocutor, teacher, mentor, activist, and life- long friend to an impossibly large number of people. Bill earned a B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an M.S. degree at the Columbia University School of Journalism. An internationally acclaimed award- winning documentary filmmaker, Bill made the Oscar-nominated "The Weather Underground" and the Emmy Award-winning "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" while holding down a demanding day job with The Great Books Foundation, serving in roles ranging from Trainer to Vice President of School Programs. As a child Bill was driven by passionate interests: baseball, the Little Rascals, the biography of Idi Amin, anything having to do with Rod Carew, trading cards, and comic books. In his young adulthood, he became increasingly devoted to and curious about social justice and politics. Following graduate school Bill worked on archival film research for projects on Muhammad Ali, which led to a research job on Hoop Dreams. Bill's calling was to connect modern audiences, especially young people, with stories from history, using a modern dialect to deepen viewers' critical thinking and political engagement. He gained the trust and respect of those whose stories he told, creating from a place of integrity and curiosity. Bill honed his craft as prober of people's thinking during his 23 years at Great Books, where he led more than 1000 seminars guiding thousands of teachers to take on a Socratic approach. Bill's final completed project was a study guide for Ken Burns and Lynne Novick's documentary series, The Vietnam War. His current documentary-in-process, America Sells Itself, mines the archives of the United States Information Agency (USIA) to investigate the U.S. government's Cold War era effort to sell American- style democracy. Bill loved baseball and rock and roll, and was front man, lyricist, and composer for his band, the Willis Project, with a NYC premiere at CBGB. A proud Bad Jew and sauna-bathing Finn, he held his family and their Minnesota cabin culture at the center of his being. Bill was predeceased by father Richard, mother Libby, and infant brother David, and in addition to children Louie and Johanna, he is mourned by sisters, Ellie (William Warren) Siegel, Janet Ha, Margie (Scott Horne) Siegel; his former wife, Lauren Goffen, partner Kim Wade, and seven nieces and nephews, each of whom, like Bill's countless friends, felt a unique and life- forming bond with him. Bill will be remembered for his kindness and generosity, his charm, ferocious curiosity, incisive intelligence, spirited sense of humor-and for his pleasure in being alive. Service: Saturday December 15th, 6:00 p.m. at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd., (at Niles Center Road) Skokie, IL, followed by a reception at the same location. Memorials in Bill's name to an organization of the donor's choice or visit chicagojewishfunerals.com/ to contribute to his childrens' education fund. Arr: Chicago Jewish Funerals Skokie-Chapel 847.229.8822

Published on December 13, 2018