All we can say is wow! Thanks so much to Larz at Chicagoland Radio & Media for this incredibly kind write up about "The Living Wills". (It looks so much nicer on his site here.. He has links to all of the different things he talks about in the text, and pictures of our middle-aged mugs.)
This is what he wrote...
Well-known blogger, author and former Chicago radio producer/personality, Rick Kaempfer has had a busy year. Not only has he started up a new book publishing company, but he authored all or part of a few new books, one of which gets released today.
Rick Kaempfer, along with his long time collaborator and friend David Stern, founded the new boutique book publishing company Eckhartz Press this year. The name comes from combining the first names of both founder's Fathers and features a logo of a laughing letter "E." The company has a handful of new books coming out by a few different authors.
The very first publishing from Eckhartz Press happens today, as the new novel "The Living Wills" is now released. The book was collaboratively written by both Rick Kaempfer and Brendan Sullivan.
Rick Kaempfer is, of course, the former radio producer for Chicago radio legends Steve & Garry (1987-1991) and John Records Landecker (1993-2003), among others, who also hosted and co-hosted his own radio shows on WLUP-FM/AM. After 20 years in radio, Kaempfer walked away to focus on raising his family, writing, co-owning an advertising agency that specialized in creative radio ads, and other pursuits. He was the author of the hilarious 2007 novel "$everance," which gained universal rave reviews for its satire of the current radio & media industry -- a subject he knew well. In 2004, he co-authored a different book on a subject he knew well, along with another well-known Chicago radio producer, John "Swany" Swanson, called "The Radio Producer's Handbook." That book has been called by many as the definitive how-to book on radio production. Kaempfer contributed to the 2008 book "Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year." He is the owner of the humorous Chicago Cubs history website Just One Bad Century. If that wasn't enough, Kaempfer is also a writer and contributing editor for the NW Indiana Times' Shore Magazine, a writer for NW Indiana Times Parent's blog "Father Knows Nothing," interviewer on his Chicago Radio Spotlight website, and a blogger on his own self-named site. Kaempfer won a National Writing Award for an essay written in 1999.
Brendan Sullivan is another veteran of Chicago radio. From 1991-2001, Sullivan was a producer and writer for the Jonathon Brandmeier Radio Showgram. In addition to producing, he would create pre-recorded bits, do on-air character voices, and help create the comedic atmosphere for the program. He has also done his fair share of acting, appearing in national television commercials, feature films, and on the live theater stage. Using his comic timing, Sullivan was a member of the improvisational group Blue Velveeta at Chicago's IO. Since 2002, he has been a successful creativity coach & corporate trainer. More information about Brendan Sullivan's "day job" can be found on his website.
Kaempfer & Sullivan met at WLUP-FM around 20 years ago and struck up a friendship. These two friends recently decided to try a new & innovative way to co-write a book together, using improv skills, brainstorming, mind mapping, and other idea-generating techniques. For "The Living Wills" novel, they came up with a storyline together -- three interweaving storylines, actually -- wrote chapters separately, and then collaborated on the editing, improving and combining of all parts.
The Eckhartz Press website describes the plot of then book this way: "'The Living Wills' is a story about a split-second decision made 30 years ago and the ripple effects it caused. Can the man who made that decision and the people he affected maneuver their way through a world of baristas and Army veterans, bowling teams and exploding port-a-potties, cartoon pirates and young love, to find the strength to heal before it's too late?"
"The Living Wills" is available as of today for only $15.95 and can be purchased online at this link HERE. The authors are hoping to have the e-book version of "The Living Wills" available by the end of December.
I'm not worthy. That is too kind.
