The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Coming Soon: A New Book By Tony Fitzpatrick
=The name of the book is The Sun At the End of the World: Dispatches from an American Life and features artwork, essays, and poems by esteemed Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick. He posted the front and back cover on Facebook this week.
=This will be Tony's first book for Eckhartz Press. He did, however, previously contribute to our book The Loop Files. Tony was a prominent member of the Loop staff, co-hosting Drive In Reviews with Buzz Kilman, and later co-hosting a show with Wendy Snyder. But radio was always a side-gig for Tony. He is world renowned as an artist. If you live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, maybe you've seen Tony's murals (below). This book contains many examples of Tony's artwork, but also features the brutally honest and gritty words that Tony has become famous for in his long stint as a columnist/writer at New City.
=Thanks to everyone who came out to see Mark Wukas interviewed by Richard Reeder at Max and Benny's in Skokie last week. Great turnout. Richard tells us that was his 108th interview. This one featured Mark reading from his book The Kiss of Night. We were there to record it...
=Next up for Mark, an appearance at Printers Row Litfest. He will be appearing on the center stage for a discussion at noon Saturday September 6. Here's the description of that discussion: "New Chicago Fiction: Grit and Grace featuring James Stewart III, Defiant Acts, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., The El, and Mark Wukas, The Kiss of Night in conversation with Vincent Francone."
=Mark will be signing and selling his books at the Litfest the following day as well (Sept 7) from 2-6pm. He will have a table in the Chicago Writers Association tent.
=This week we got a shipment of thumb drives containing the 14-hour audio book of Mob Adjacent. Look for your chance to pick up this convenient "just plug it in your car's USB port" version soon. We'll have an announcement next week.
=The fellas keep plugging away...
=Jeff Reiter's latest Words on Birds column came out in the Daily Herald this past week and featured a nice plug for the book. You can read the whole article here.
=The column also announced his talk/book launch party at Catigny on September 4th (Register here), his appearance at Printer's Row Litfest on September 7 from 10am-2pm (in the Chicago Writers Association tent), and another one at the Urban Birding Fest September 12-14 (he will have a table selling his book there). For information about the Urban Birding Fest, click here.
=The seventh edition of EveryCubEver is still going strong. Remember to check the daily updates at Rick's Just One Bad Century facebook page.
=One of the most enthusiastic supporters of EveryCubEver was the late great WXRT morning man Lin Brehmer (Born August 19). Here's what he said about it...
From the immortals to the footnotes, they’re all here. Every player has a story. An enduring fascination for any baseball fan with the curiosity to ask, hey, who were those guys?”
=Also, this week in 1996 (August 18), EveryCubEver author Rick Kaempfer took his oldest son Tommy to his first ever Cubs game. (Photographic proof below). Tommy has gone to at least one Cubs game every year since then (except the Covid year when no-one was allowed to go). An older lady saw Rick and Tommy that day in 1996 and asked: "Are you going to make him a Cubs fan?" When Rick responded in the affirmative, the old lady said: "That's child abuse." True story.
=The Flip Side co-author Larry Rosenbaum will also be appearing at the Printers Row Litfest on Saturday September 6th. He'll be in the Chicago Writers Association tent from 12:30pm-3pm.
=Speaking of The Flip Side, on August 19, 1977—Foghat Live was released. It became their top selling album, and naturally led to a record store appearance in The Flip Side.
Worth a Second Look and Oscars Biggest Mistakes
=Since it's called "Litfest" it's only natural that Eric Litt, author of Worth A Second Look and Oscars Biggest Mistakes will be also be appearing at the Printer's Row Litfest on Saturday September 6th. He will be there from 10am--12:30pm at the Chicago Writers Association tent selling and signing copies of both of his books.
=Happy birthday (August 19) to The Living Wills co-author Brendan Sullivan. The Living Wills was our first book, and Brendan has been it's champion. He also contributed to the book The Loop Files.
=One of the closing chapters of Dan McNeil's book I Bear Witness features his tributes to the Bears who have passed away in the last few decades. One of those was Cedric Benson. He died this week (August 17) in 2019. Here's what Dan writes about him in his book...
Benson and a female passenger died at the scene when his motorcycle crashed with a minivan in Austin, Tex. He was 36.
The Heisman trophy winner, picked fourth-overall in ‘05, went 5-11 and 225 with tremendous burst and cut-back quickness. Benson never got out of second gear in Chicago and was shown the door in ‘08 after two alcohol-related arrests in a month. His rap sheep grew considerably as his NFL career devolved. He muscled out a few respectable years with the Bengals before one final season with the Packers.
Weed. Criminal trespassing. Boating under the influence. Punching a bartender.
Cedric Benson lived recklessly.
I admired Benson’s college career at Texas. He was a four-year starter and finished with 5,500+ career rushing yards, second only to Ricky Williams in Austin. He was my kind of back. Low to the ground. Powerful, but sleek. Elusive, but tough.
At training camp in Bourbonnais, Benson pulled up a chair in the air-conditioned RV to do a segment on my ESPN 1000 Mac, Jurko & Harry show. We were in a commercial break when Benson entered the trailer, so I attempted small talk and apologized for the lengthy wait before we got started.
“All good,” Benson said softly. “I got nobody else to go talk to.”
He was serious. Teammates paid him little or no mind. The beatings Benson endured following his 36-day holdout (defenders tackling him at full speed during thud time when tacklers don’t take ball carriers to the ground) were only rookie hazings but proved detrimental. An already bashful guy pulled away even more. Ced never closed the distance from teammates and was a football tragedy.
=Author Deborah Brasket reviewed a few of her favorite books on her blog this week. Among them was Vicki Atkinson's Surviving Sue. Read the whole review here. This is a small excerpt...
Writing about trauma is healing not only for the writer but for the reader as well. For those readers who have suffered or are suffering from similar trauma, it helps them to know they are not alone and gives them coping mechanisms to emulate. For those who have not suffered this way, it gives them a peek into another’s life and helps build empathy and awareness. I learned a lot from reading the excellent memoir and highly recommend it.
=Surviving Sue is a popular choice for book clubs, by the way. Vicki has even put together this book club resources page on her website.
=What a great book launch party a year ago this week for To the Men I've Loved. Thanks so much to everyone who came out. It was a great turnout. Here are a few pictures...
=This week in 2017 (August 20), there was an article in the Cap Times about Eckhartz Press author Lee Kingsmill.
=Exactly one year later in 2018 (August 20), Lee made an appearance on WGN Radio with Rick Kogan to talk about his award-winning book Safe Inside. You can still listen to it here.
=A few notable birthday boys from this week are featured in the pages of Randy Merkin's sports interview book Behind the Glass. Bill Parcells (August 22), Kobe Bryant (August 23) and these guys below. John "Jurko" Jurkovic (foreground with Randy and Henry Winkler and Carmen DeFalco) and Cal Ripken Jr. (August 24)
National Radio Day
=August 20 is National Radio Day. We can't remember, have we ever published a book about radio?
=Speaking of The Loop Files, one of the biggest stars in the history of the station is celebrating a birthday this week (August 19). Happy birthday to the newsman/bluesman Buzz Kilman, seen below with Dennis Hopper and Johnny B, with Johnny B, Kevin Matthews, and Danny Bonaduce, and in the old Loop studios shortly after he arrived in Chicago in 1980.
=This week in 2014, Bruce Bohrer appeared on Pete McMurray's WGN Radio show to talk about his book Best Seat in the House.
=A few of our authors have had brushes with the biggest of the bigshots. That's Life Behind the Camera author Chuck Quinzio with the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. It's Clinton's birthday this week (August 19)
=Another week, another slew of rock star birthdays. Naturally, We Have Company author Bobby Skafish has featured all of them in his book, Robert Plant (August 20), Joe Strummer (August 21), and Tori Amos (August 22)
=This week in 2021 (August 20), Margaret Larkin's novel Wicker Park Wishes was also released as an e-book. It's still available in that format, of course.
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=Carl Amari has a birthday this week (August 20). He was a big fan of Beth Jacobellis' Eckhartz Press novel Cameo. Here's what he said at the time...
Beth Jacobellis is a masterful storyteller and her latest work, “Cameo” takes us on an unforgettable journey through a powerful representation of timeless love.
=August 21 is World Fashion Day. Believe it or not, we have an author who was a model, Mark Gelinas. His cancer journey is chronicled in the book GelStrong, and induced support from fellow models, including this one, wearing postcards promoting Mark's book...
=This week former Bears wide receiver Dennis McKinnon is celebrating a birthday (August 22). Chet Coppock wrote about Dennis in his book Your Dime My Dance Floor, but he was saving the best Dennis stories for a book he was writing with Dennis. The final draft of that book was turned in to Eckhartz Press the week before Chet died. After Chet's death, Dennis self published the book instead. It's on Amazon, if you're interested.
