Joel Daly Reviewed & Interviewed by the Chicago Bar Association Record

The Chicago Bar Association Record has a great review and interview with Eckhartz Press author Joel Daly in their August issue. Below is the interview section of the article, written by Ruth Kaufman...

Former Channel 7 news anchor and reporter, attorney, pilot, singer and actor Joel Daly’s memoir, The Daly News: A Life on Television News, might never have been written if not for his granddaughter, Kate Scott Daly. After hearing his stories at family Sunday dinners, she told him she wanted to write his biography. So he assembled background information for her, including the Commentaries he wrote for WLS-TV. She recorded some of Daly’s tales, but then got too busy to complete the project. When painters came to his house, he had nowhere to sit. So he went to his office and decided he'd write the book, since he’d already done most of the preparation and background work.

“I didn't know if I could write a book or not, or if I had enough to say,” Daly said. “I knew I didn't want to start with, ‘I was born.’ I pride myself on being fairly good writer, which is why I enjoyed doing the Commentaries.” It only took him a couple of months to write.

Daly first self-published, then heard a story about Eckhartz Press, which had done WLS-FM and former WLS-AM DJ John Records Landecker’s memoir. He contacted Eckhartz because he wanted his book to reach a bigger audience.

But going with a publisher meant making a few changes. For example, just mentioning The Beatles wasn’t enough for his editor, who wanted to know more about them and also George Wallace, former governor of Alabama. “Everyone thought, ‘Oh, you met The Beatles,’ but it wasn’t a big deal to me at the time,” Daly says.

Since publication, he’s done a few book signings and interviews, including one on WGN radio with Bob Sirott and on Channel 7’s Windy City Live. He answered audience Qs at a signing at the Beverly Art Center.

“It just all happened,” Daly says of the major events in his life. “I was more of a reactionary, opportunities came up. I'm a lucky guy. I was always that way. In retrospect, I always wanted to keep learning. So when I became a pilot, I became a commercial pilot then a flight instructor. I wanted to be better, and the way to do that was to get more ratings.”

He continued, “The whole singing thing was a fluke. I was writing an article on country music for the Tribune, and went to a Sundowners concert. They said, ‘Hey, Joel Daly is here.’ I sang as a guest because of my yodeling.” He performed with them for years.

Going to law school had been on his mind for thirty years, even as an undergrad. But his decision to attend at age 50 was as spontaneous as described in the book. “I never sat down and said, ‘I want to do this.’ It just happened. If I hadn’t been taken off the 10:00 news, I wouldn’t have become a lawyer. That’s serendipity.” He “really enjoyed law school,” but said “some professors were dubious at first,” because he was still anchoring the 4:00 news.

Though The Daly News is jam-packed with Daly’s accomplishments, a couple were left out. He’s been doing radio shows at the Chicago Cultural Center with the SAG-AFTRA Senior Players for 20 years and also performs in dramatic readings of movies in “Films for the Ears.” His favorite role in the former was the Lone Ranger, and in the latter, Howard Beale from Network.

What’s next for this Renaissance man? His main role right now is taking care of his wife, but he’d like to do more acting.

Naturally this fabulous book is available one place...Eckhartz Press. Get your copy today.