Critics: Exit of the Executioner

Actor Cyril Ritchard calls her "Acidy Cassidy." Director Tyrone Guthrie finds her "vicious and irresponsible." Contralto Marie Powers once threatened to clout her in the snoot, and had to be restrained from doing so. The object of these strong sentiments is the Chicago Tribune's deceptively frail Claudia Cassidy, whose barbed pen has made her the most widely read and feared critic of the lively arts in the Midwest. She has written finish to many a career in Chicago, notably those of two local conductors who left after continual Cassidy pannings.

Last week word got out that Claudia Cassidy, 65, will retire...

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