The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
ANNOUNCING OUR NEWEST BOOK: Sirens in the Loop: A History of the City News Bureau of Chicago. (Available for Pre-order Now)
=What's it about?
Sirens in the Loop: A History of the City News Bureau of Chicago, authored by Paul Zimbrakos and James Elsener, provides a definitive chronicle of the legendary news agency.
Operating for over a century, the bureau served as the ultimate “journalism boot camp,” training thousands of reporters under the demanding mantra: “If your mother says she loves you—check it out!”
The book captures the bureau’s evolution from its 1890 founding as a cooperative news-gathering source for Chicago newspapers, and later for broadcast outlets, to its final closure in 2005. It explores the unique “Chicago style” of journalism, characterized by speed, accuracy, and a relentless 24/7 pursuit of the story.
Readers are taken behind the scenes of major historical events, including the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the disastrous fire at Our Lady of the Angels Church in which 92 children perished, and the still unsolved Tylenol Murders.
Beyond the headlines, the narrative is driven by hundreds of anecdotes from alumni—including luminaries like Mike Royko, Kurt Vonnegut and Seymour Hersh, who survived the “unspoken wrath” and guiding hand of veteran editors.
The book details the bureau’s inner workings, from the clattering manual typewriters, the underground pneumatic tube news delivery system to the frantic “bulletins” of “Sirens in the Loop!” which signaled immediate breaking news.
It stands as a testament to a bygone era of street-smart reporting that shaped the landscape of American journalism.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=An event hosted by The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame on February 6th...Great Chicago Books Club: Tony Fitzpatrick’s The Sun at the End of the Road: Dispatches from an American Life
=From the CLHOF Website: Tony Fitzpatrick published his essay collection, The Sun at the End of the Road, just weeks before his death. Tony was celebrated as a visual artist, radio personality, boxer, and actor, but too often his accomplishments as a writer were overlooked. He was a fantastic writer--this last book is proof of that. It's a kind of memoir told in a series of small reflective prose pieces. His publisher, Eckhartz Press, expedited the release date, and because of that Tony was able to experience a small bit of the book's success. The founders and owners of Eckhartz, Rick Kaempfer and Dave Stern, will moderate a discussion about The Sun at the End of the Road. Special guests include Thomas Dyja and Dave Hoekstra.The event is free, but registration is required. You'll get the registrat release the Zoom link shortly before the event start time. Registration is now open. 
=It's next week--mark your calendars for our big night. Jim Slusher will be appearing at the Book Cellar on January 23, accepting his Book of the Year award from the Chicago Writers Association. Can't wait to see another Eckhartz Press author bring home the hardware.
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=You don't have to wait until next week to see Nick Digilio. Nick is hosting his "Nick's Pick" on Wednesday night at the Lake Theater in Oak Park. This month's film is the Warren Beatty classic Heaven Can Wait.
=In case you missed it, Nick Digilio (40 Years 40 Films) was on WCPT with John St. Augustine on January 2. You can listen to it here.
=You'll also have a chance this week to meet Eckhartz Press author Jeff Reiter (The Best of Words on Birds). He will be hosting a talk at Mayslake Peabody Estate in Dupage County on January 15.
=If you missed it over the holidays, The Daily Herald gave a big spread to Jeff as he recapped the year in birds. You can read that here. It includes some beautiful color photographs, including this one of Snowy Owl by Elizabeth Schissler.
Happy Birthday!
=Eckhartz Press author John Martucci (When the Beast Comes for You) is celebrating a birthday this week (January 18). Happy birthday to the good doctor.
=Dick Allen will be given the Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame award on January 18. Dick Allen Jr. and Chili Dog MVP authors Dr. David Fletcher and John Owens will be there at the Tinley Park Convention Center at 3:30pm. Check out the news about the five-part docu-series based on the book and Dick Allen's life...
=FYI...before the year is done, we will have a new updated Hall of Fame edition of the book. Stay tuned!
Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club
=Another one of our Sox books was in the news. Great article in 2024 (January 14) in The Daily Herald about our recent book. The book is the long-lost transcript of the Shoeless Joe Jackson trial from 100 years ago. Thanks so much to writer Steve Zalusky for highlighting it.
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=That's not our only Cubs book. 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).
Additional upcoming Eckhartz Press author events. Mark your calenders...
=Mark Wukas (The Kiss of Night) will be appearing at Welcome to the Show at the Getaway (4530 N. Lincoln Avenue) on February 16.
=Vicki Atkinson (Surviving Sue) will be appearing at Wauconda Library (11am-12:30pm) on February 20. Vicki's debut novel is coming out later this year on Eckhartz Press.
=Robert Conlon (Celtic Knot) will be appearing at the Gman (on Clark in Chicago) on March 15.
=Over the holidays, The Loop Files author Rick Kaempfer had a chance to bring his entire family to the Museum of Broadcast Communications to see the Loop exhibit there. Yes, the exhibit features a signed giant poster of The Loop Files. They are also selling the book on site, and have special Loop t-shirts to commemorate the exhibit.
=This week in 2024, Rick Kaempfer appeared on WLS Radio with Pete McMurray and Steve Cochran.
=The Chicago Writes podcast also featured The Loop Files.
=There were some truly great reviews of The Loop Files, and perhaps none better than this one by Christopher Sutter.
=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.
=Richard has turned in the manuscript for his follow up novel. It will be coming out around Opening Day in 2026.
=To give you an idea of what the topic of that novel is, maybe you'll want to check out Richard's next live interview at Max & Benny's. On February 3 he'll be interviewing baseball radio reporter Bruce Levine. Details are here.
=The manuscript of Randy Merkin's follow up book was also turned in this week. Look for that to come out in the coming months.
=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.
=Also, 14 years ago this week, Rick and Brendan discussed the tricky collaboration that led to the first Eckhartz Press book, The Living Wills.
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.
=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.
=This week in 2023, Rick Kaempfer made his first book club appearance for his novel Back in the DDR.
=On January 18, 1974—Black Oak Arkansas appeared at the Auditorium in Chicago. The Flip Side brothers (Carl & Larry) were there, presenting the show...
=In 2025, for the 10th anniversary of Truffle Hunt, author Brent Petersen featured a series of articles on substack explaining the process of how it came to be. Here's the first one: How the International Criminal Tribunal Influenced the Creation of one of my Characters.
=Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) was featured in Illinois Entertainer this month in 2024, talking about his podcast Destination Eat Drink.
=That podcast features another Eckhartz Press author this week...
Broken bones, getting kicked out of hotels, and suspiciously disappearing credit cards with Rick Kaempfer. It's vacation mishaps.=This week in 2018, West Suburban Living reviewed Mitch Michael's book.
=Rod Stewart is celebrating a birthday this week. You may not realize that Doin The Cruise author Mitch Michaels played a key role in Rod's song "Maggie Mae" becoming a big hit. He tells that story in the book. (That's Mitch in the middle of the pic below)
=Bobby Skafish's 2016 Eckhartz Press book We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters is a rock and roll lover's dream. Bobby has met and interviewed them all. Two of them had birthdays last week; the late David Bowie and Dave Matthews. Their stories (and these photos) are in the book. Matthews was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.
=Dobie Maxwell's gripping personal story about a bank robbery was reviewed this week in 2017. Dobie's book remains one of our best sellers.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Records Landecker's book was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2013. When John was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017, we re-released the book with additional stories and photos. Among the new photos...this one of John and his daughter Amy with the richest man in the world (at the time), who happens to be celebrating a birthday this week (January 12).
=The former Chicago Daily News arts reporter (and Northwestern University professor) Jack Hafferkamp released his novel Sepsis via Eckhartz Press this week in 2017.
=In 2022, Eckhartz Press released Chuck Swirsky's memoir Always a Pleasure. It features some great stories about his life as a sportscaster, and some memorable photos as well. Here he is with this week's birthday boy Lou Holtz.
=This week in 2023 (January 14), Chuck Swirsky also 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 former Bulls player Dwyane Wade
The Balding Handbook
=We sold out of the book, but before it went out of print, The Balding Handbook helped countless balding souls. 13 years ago this week author David Stern was on Mancow's television show talking about it.
=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.
“You’ll love reading about what it’s like to be a soccer (always going to be football to me!) fan from multiple perspectives. Thanks to Paul and this in depth look at the evolution of international soccer in the United States, in some ways negative for the men’s game, and in some ways positive for the women’s game.”
