Tuesday, April 09, 2024

Publishing Portal--April, 9, 2024








The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.


*New Book Available for Pre-Order!


The goal of Last Comiskey is to serve as a permanent companion to the documentary that will provide a physical and tangible reminder of the final surprising season at “Sox Park.” The book blends both Ken Smoller’s photographs along with the content from the “Last Comiskey” documentary film, supplemented by new material to provide greater context. The book is intended to capture the spirit of the documentary and the reflections of the many participants in the interviews Matt conducted for the film. Last Comiskey ships in May. This video will tell you more...



*New Book Re-Release!

Not to be confused with the recent series on Apple TV. This was the story of the original $everance, released in 2007 by ENC Press, and now available via Eckhartz Press. This is Eckhartz Press co-founder Rick Kaempfer’s first novel. It’s eerie how many things have actually happened in the media world that were predicted in this cutting satire.



*Happy Birthday!

=Two contributors to The Loop Files are celebrating birthdays this week. Happy birthday to Bob Stroud (April 13) and Dorothy Humphrey (April 7)



*Happy Anniversary!

=This week in 2018, the second edition of Kipper McGee's broadcasting book Brandwidth was released. Kipper appeared on the Sound Off podcast to discuss it.



*In Town this Week!

=Inside Melania author Lauren LoGuidice is in town this week (April 11 at 7pm at The Lincoln Lodge) with her variety show. Your favorite Eckhartz Press publishers will be there cheering her on...



 *Best Seat in the House: Diary of a Wrigley Field Usher

=This week in 1982, Harry Caray broadcast his first game for the Cubs. Eckhartz Press author Bruce Bohrer met him shortly thereafter.



EveryCubEver

=This week in 2019, Rick Kaempfer was making the rounds promoting EveryCubEver. The first two stops were WCIU-TV and the Steve Cochran Show on WGN Radio. Of course, the 6th edition of the book dropped last week. Over 100 new entries since last year's version.




*Cubsessions

=Yet another Cubs book in the Eckhartz Press library. One of the contributors to that book, best-selling author Scott Turow, is celebrating a birthday this week.


*We Have Company

 =A few of the rock stars interviewed by Bobby Skafish in We Have company: Four Decades of Rock & Roll Encounters are celebrating birthdays this week, Julian Lennon and Amy Ray from the Indigo Girls.



*The Daly News

=This week in 2014, the Beverly Arts Center hosted An Afternoon with Joel Daly. Penny Golden interviewed Joel in front of a large BAC audience.

 



*Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=Just weeks after Landecker's book came out in 2013, his childhood crush Annette Funicello passed away. You can listen to John's interview with Annette here or you can read the free excerpt from his book (about Annette).


*In Small Boxes

 =Ann Wilson's memoir came out in 2016, and acclaimed author Tim Bascomb (who is celebrating a birthday this week) had this to say about Ann's book...

  • Here, in an honest sensitive voice, Ann Wilson recalls being yanked out of her 1970’s teenage life in Western Springs, Illinois, when her dynamic architect father is assigned to a two-year project in Hong Kong, transplanting the family. ‘You’re afraid,’ he tells her on their first night in the new vertical city with its teetering apartment buildings and rickety bamboo scaffolding. ‘Of what?’ she asks, and he mumbles, ‘Of the unknown.’ Little does this American teenager know how much her father will become that ‘unknown.’ Wilson looks back and chronicles it all in brave, vivid prose—not just the strange flavors and sounds, but the unanticipated changes in herself and the impact Hong Kong ultimately has on her family.

    — Tim Bascom, author of the prize-winning memoir, Chameleon Days and Running to the Fire, about coming of age as the son of missionaries in revolutionary Ethiopia.


*An Off-White Christmas

=It's not often an Eckhartz Press book gets a recommendation from the likes of Chicago author Stuart Dybek (celebrating a birthday this week), but Don Evans' collection of short stories managed to do just that when it came out in 2018...

  • Don Evans can get the streets to talk as if they’re telling their own stories. One hears in his work an immediately recognizable offhand tone that rings true, empathetic, street smart, and very funny.

    Stuart Dybek, author of A Neighborhood and Other Stories, The Coast of Chicago, I Sailed with Magellan, Streets in Their Own Ink, Paper Lanterns, and Ecstatic Cahoots


*Always a Pleasure

=This week in 2023, Chuck Swirsky appeared on the podcast of old colleague Garry Meier to discuss his book Always a Pleasure. This is what Chuck looked like when he and Garry worked together at the Loop in 1980 (photo by Paul Natkin/from The Loop Files)


*Hugh Hefner's First Funeral

 =This week would have been Hugh Hefner's birthday. Pat Colander used Hef's name in her book's title because one of the most powerful tales in her book is the one about Hefner's secretary, and her tragic end (a true story). Illustrator David Mosele contributed this sketch of Hef and Bobbi to the book...


*Down at the Golden Coin

=This week in 2012, Kim Strickland was featured in this Chicago Tribune story about her new novel Down at the Golden Coin. It was only the 2nd release by Eckhartz Press.


*Cameo

=This week in 2018, Beth Jacobellis appeared on WGN Radio to talk about her novel Cameo. 


*Chili Dog MVP

 =This book is all about the 1972 Chicago White Sox. One of those players mentioned in Chili Dog MVP is celebrating a birthday this week. Happy birthday Vincente Romo.