Behind the Scenes at WGN Radio

I was on Rick Kogan's show last night on WGN Radio in Chicago. I brought my son Tommy along to take some pictures and suck in the atmosphere.

Rick likes to broadcast in the 7th floor studio in the Tribune Tower instead of the showcase studio on Michigan Avenue, and this was my first time doing a show there. The atmosphere was incredibly relaxed, and Rick made me feel at home right away. I've gotten to know him pretty well over the past 20 years and there was a lot to talk about.

We discussed my book "Father Knows Nothing" of course. Kogan was the first interviewer to really get to the heart of this book. He realized that it was inspired by my own father, and he could feel the specter of my dad throughout. He read excerpts and was very kind, calling it my "best book ever." But the highlight of the interview for me was when he called Tommy to the microphone and interviewed him about what it was like to have a book written about him. This boy who was literally on the radio when he was only 2 hours old, performed very well. I was proud of him.

But more importantly, he was flying high. The kid (not so much a kid anymore--he's 19) who never gets excited about anything was REALLY excited on his way out the door. "Dad," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder, "That was soooo cool."

So, it looks like I have another reason to be a Rick Kogan fan. He's always been very supportive of me and my writing career. In fact, he's the one that gave me the idea to start Eckhartz Press in the first place. He gave me a great review of The Living Wills for the book jacket. He had me on the show to promote "$everance". He did the best interview of John Records Landecker when "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" came out. And I appreciate all of those things.

But putting Tommy on the air is the nicest thing he's ever done.

For one day, I'm a hero in my house.

Thanks so much for that, Rick.

(When the podcast is posted on the WGN website, I'll post it here too.)