EPCHS Alum David McGrath, Author And College Professor, Inducted In 'Hall of Fame'

EVERGREEN PARK, IL—Evergreen Park Community High School inducted an accomplished author and college professor into its Hall of Fame Monday during the school’s Honors Night ceremony.

David McGrath is an EPCHS alum from the class of 1967 who continued his education by earning a B.S. in education and an M.A. in English (cum laude), both from Chicago State University. His teaching career included roles as a journalism/English teacher at Chicago Vocational School, professor of English and Native American Literature at the College of DuPage and writing professor at the University of South Alabama and Florida Southwestern State College.

He’s the author of four books and more than 700 essays that have appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the country, including the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. Books authored by McGrath are Siege at Ojibawa, The Territory, South Siders and Far Enough Away.

McGrath has helped put the village of Evergreen Park on the map through his heartwarming stories about growing up, going to school, and later raising his family in Evergreen Park and Chicago’s South Side. These stories, which often highlight the values and sense of community that is unique to Evergreen Park, have circulated everywhere in the country—from California to New York—for the past 25 years.

These works have brought McGrath numerous awards including a finalist in the national EdPress awards in 1993, an award for best essay in American Educator Magazine in 1999, an award citation in “Notable Essays and Literary Nonfiction” in Best American Essays in 2022 and an award citation for the Chicago Tribune’s “Most Heartfelt Op-ed” in 2024 and 2025.

McGrath is currently a contributing editor for Florida Sportsman Magazine.