The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=Tony Fitzpatrick got some amazing press for his fabulous new book this week in the Chicago Tribune. Unfortunately, as you can tell by reading the story, additional news was revealed. Tony is currently experiencing some serious health issues.
=Tony managed to attend his book launch on Saturday via Zoom, and was greeted with this wonderful video from his friends and supporters...
=Unfortunatley, Steppenwolf Theater issued the following statement about his upcoming run there...Tony Fitzpatrick’s engagement of “The Sun
at the End of the Road,” “presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series,
has been postponed indefinitely due to the artist’s ongoing health
complications,” Steppenwolf advises. “Steppenwolf looks forward to bringing
Tony’s show to his Chicago fans in the future.”
=He may be in the hospital, but he's still making people happy with the book, including his health care workers...
40 Years, 40 Films
=Film critic/podcaster/broadcaster Nick Digilio announced that his new book is available now as an e-book on Amazon. You can get it here. Guess what else? In a few weeks it will also be available as a book-book (technical term) at Eckhartz Press. Look for the official pre-order announcement in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here's the pretty cool cover...
=Speaking of films, authors Jeffrey and Michael Gentile, along with publishers Rick and Dave, got a screening of the Mob Adjacent film over the weekend. Oh boy. This one is going to be incredible. Buckle up, everyone. We will keep you updated on all upcoming film news. There's a lot of excitement going on behind the scenes.
=Another promotional video from the guys. This one stars Michael Gentile, Jr.
=The October issue of Illinois Entertainer is out and it includes a profile of our latest Hall of Famer, Mitch Michaels. You can read that here.
=One of our brand new books (available for pre-order now) is called South Side Memories by Gloria Golec. Knowing that you might not know Gloria, or what her story is about, we conducted the following Q&A that will give you a better idea of what to expect.
=For the past few weeks The Loop Files author Rick Kaempfer has been accumulating Loop artifacts and memorabilia, and quietly writing various different Loop displays. Why has he been doing that? Big announcement coming next week.
=This week in 2023, the publicity machine was just getting rolling for The Loop Files. It wasn't even officially released yet. Rick was on the Matt Kissane podcast talking about the book on October 9th, and the RAMP Newsletter featured the book in their popular radio publication on October 11.
Happy Birthday!
=Two Eckhartz Press authors are celebrating birthdays this week. Happy birthday to Chili Dog MVP co-author John Owens (October 7) and one of our new authors, To Nudge the World writer Jim Slusher (October 10). Both of them work in the media. Owens was the senior producer at the Chicago Tribune for years, and is now a producer for ABC-7 in Chicago, and Slusher is the Managing Editor for Opinion at the Daily Herald.
=One of the evergreen parts of Dan McNeil's excellent book about the Chicago Bears is his chapter eulogizing the Bears greats who have passed away in recent years. This week in 2023 (October 5), we lost Dick Butkus. Dan wrote a wonderful tribute to the immortal Bears linebacker.
AWARD SEASON
=This week in 2019 (October 11), two of our books were named finalists for the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year. The Scar Dance (in the fiction category), and EveryCubEver by Rick Kaempfer (in the non-fiction category).
=This week in 2015 (October 6), the reviews came in for Pat Colander's award-winning book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral. Here are a few of them...
As Paul Simon bookended…”Time it was, and what a time it was….A time of innocence. A time of confidences.” Chicago in the ’70’s was surreal, scary and freaking hilarious. My Second City kith and kin may have found brighter lights in N.Y. and L.A. — but we were spawned and fermented at North and Wells. Good thing Pat Colander thought to take notes and chronicle everything.
Pat Colander toiled with me in the belly of the Chicago journalism beast in the 1970s and 1980s. When major stories were reported, she asked questions. When the questions were poorly answered or evaded, she asked even more questions of even more people. Then in a clear, true voice, she wrote it all down. She found the real stories behind the stories and this collection of her work is just great. She ought to be long-listed for the Man Booker prize, If I can figure out how to do it I will.
=One of the interviewees for Becky Sarwate and Randy Richardson's book about celebrity Cub fans is celebrating a birthday this week. Happy birthday to journalist and author Jonathan Alter (October 6). He rates his own chapter in the book Cubsessions.
=This week in 2016 (October 7), Bobby Skafish visited the WLS studios to talk about his book with his old colleague at the Loop, Steve Dahl. It just happened to be the same day that Trump's Access Hollywood tape came out. (Also in the photo--Brendan Greeley and Dag Juhlin)
Grace and Friends Fire Activity Book
=This week in 2020 (October 7), co-author of Grace and Friends Fire Activity Safety book Paul Possenti was called a COVID hero. Read this to find out more.
=Two football legends are celebrating birthdays this week, and both of them are featured in Randy Merkin's Behind the Glass book. Former Bears great (and Hall of Famer) Mike Singletary (October 9), and Tony Dungy (October 6). Each get a chapter in Behind the Glass. That's Tony with Randy below.
=This week in 2018 (October 9), Christine Sneed interviewed author Donald G. Evans about his excellent collection of short stories.
