The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
It's the week of Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Awards (this coming Saturday, January 18). One of our books (Hospital Heal Thyself!) won this year and we'll be on hand to congratulate author Mark Taylor. But it's not the first time Eckhartz Press brought home the hardware...
Hugh Hefner's First Funeral and Other Tales of Life and Death in Chicago
=This week in 2017 (January 15), the Chicago Writers Association named Pat Colander's Eckhartz Press book as the CWA Book of the Year. This is a photo of Pat the night she accepted the award.
=We are so happy she got to experience that. Less than a year later Pat passed away.
=This week in 2018 (January 14), Eckhartz Press author M.L Collins also accepted her award for CWA Book of the year for the zany/off-beat novel Out the Door! Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and Dave were on hand to help her celebrate.
=In 2022, Chili Dog MVP was also honored by the Chicago Writers Association. Authors John Owens (left) and David Fletcher (right) were on hand to receive their award.
=In 2019, the Eckhartz Press book EveryCubEver was also a finalist for CWA Book of the year. Don't forget that author Rick Kaempfer features a Cub every day on the Just One Bad Century facebook page. For instance...
=This week in 2017, Eckhartz Press publishers Dave and Rick had breakfast with Lee Kingsmill and made the deal to publish his outstanding novel/memoir Safe Inside. Their faith in Lee was rewarded when the book was named as a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2018.
=This week in 2016, TV sportscaster (and Eckhartz Press author) Rich King announced his retirement from television. At the time he had already written two books for Eckhartz Press (My Maggie, Back in the Game). His retirement allowed him to write one more. Ike and Me was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2022.
=On January 18, 1974—Black Oak Arkansas appeared at the Auditorium in Chicago. The Flip Side brothers (Carl & Larry) were there, presenting the show...
Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club
=Great article this week last year (January 14) in The Daily Herald about our recent book. The book is the long-lost transcript of the Shoeless Joe trial from 100 years ago. Thanks so much to writer Steve Zalusky for highlighting it.
=This week in 2023 (January 14), Chuck Swirsky made an appearance at The Windy City Bulls, and signed copies of his book Always a Pleasure. Two of the many basketball legends who appear in the book are celebrating birthdays this week, former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and Bulls player Dwayne Wade
=This week in 2012 the authors of our first book The Living Wills made an appearance on the WGN-TV Midday News. It was the first of many TV appearances by Eckhartz Press authors.
=Rarely has an interviewer and interviewee hit it off as quickly as Eckhartz Press author Richard Reeder and TV personality Rabbi Doug. This interview is from this week in 2019.
Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind
=Vicki Quade is famous in Chicago for her theater work, but she also penned a witty Eckhartz Press book Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind about her everyday encounters with Chicagoans. We love the way she organized the stories by location. For instance, an entire chapter is about her experiences in the post office. This might be good week to read that chapter. The first U.S Postmaster, Benjamin Franklin, was born on January 17.
=We have two books about soccer in the Eckhartz Press library. One is called Grun Weiss Vor! and the other is Transatlantic Passage. That second book is about the Premier League in England. Author Paul Banks was lucky enough to get to speak to some legends, including this week's birthday boy (January 18) Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
=The coming of age novel was hot off the presses when the news about David Crosby's death hit the wires in 2023. Because Crosby was one of the people referred to in the book, we published an excerpt of the book (about Crosby) that year.
=Cubsesessions is a book about celebrity and die-hard Cub fans, and what Cubdom means to them. One of the featured fans was the Bleacher Preacher Jerry Pritikin, seen below at the book launch party with Eckhartz Press publisher David Stern. His birthday is this week (January 18).
