The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Crossing the Border!
=Into Wisconsin, that is.
The Flip Side and Doin' The Cruise
=Ken Churilla has now written two books for us, The Flip Side (with Carl & Larry Rosenbaum) and Doin' The Cruise (with Mitch Michaels). He'll be selling both of those books at The Press Book Fair, Saturday July 19th in Valparaiso, Indiana (9 Lincoln Way). Be sure to swing by and say hello.
=We love it when this happens. It's an Eckhartz Press on Eckhartz Press appearance. 1001 Train Rides in Chicago author Richard Reeder will be interviewing The Kiss of Night author Mark Wukas on August 11th at Max & Benny's. It will be recorded as a podcast. Be sure to check it out. Reserve your spot here.
=The Kiss of Night continues to get great reviews. Here are a few from Amazon...
"Five stars. The Kiss of Night provides not only a page turning story, but also an insider view of 1980s Chicago reporting and police work. This book was informative, fun, and extremely well written!! The book’s title and the Magikist sign book cover add even more to the charm."
"Five stars. The introduction got me hooked, and you will stay hooked for the entire ride. Great characters, interesting conflicts between cops, journalists, and criminals, and some surprising (but plausible) plot twists that make you want to see what comes next. Three thumbs up!"
"Five stars. A thrilling read that's also nostalgic for me. The author really brings what some golden days of journalism were like before the internet crashed the industry. A quick read with lots of great Chicago references some sex and violence, and even Greek historians!"
=The Mob Adjacent crew is in full-fledged promotional mode. A new version of the book is out. The audio book is out now too. And they are making a film. They'll also be making a bunch of commercial announcements like this one..
=Some of the most famous gangsters in Chicago history casually stroll in and out of this book, including one of the bosses of the Outfit, Jackie Cerone, who was born this week (July 7) in 1914.
=We are getting excited. Just a few more weeks...
=Two members of the 1972 White Sox have birthdays this week. The late slugging third baseman Bill Melton (July 7) and second baseman Mike Andrews (July 9). Naturally, both are featured in the pages of Chili Dog MVP.
Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind
=Vicki Quade is taking her play Late Nite Catechism on the road. A Chicago original and international hit, Late Nite Catechism comes to the Theatre at the Center in Munster, IN. for one performance only, Sunday, July 20, and to the Lyric Theatre in Blue Island for a Sunday, August 10. performance. Both shows are matinees. We don't know this for a fact, but we'd be shocked if some Chicago Pope jokes haven't made it into the show. (Photo: Vicki with Rick Kogan at WGN radio)
“Vicki Quade is a Chicago treasure with an abiding curiosity about the world around her, and sprinkled among these fly-on-the-wall stories are some valuable tips on things to see and experiences to have in our great city.”
=The seventh edition of EveryCubEver is out now! Hopefully you've been following the daily output of author Rick Kaempfer on the Just One Bad Century facebook page. Here's an example from last week.
=Connor McKnight is not only a birthday boy this week (July 12), he's also a White Sox announcer seen here pointing to a Cubs book. Must be a pretty incredible book. (Mark Grote is also in the picture, holding the book)
Ringo Starr
=Ringo Starr is celebrating a birthday this week (July 7). Ringo is part of at least four different Eckhartz Press books. There's a great story about him in The Loop Files, he's mentioned several times in Bobby Skafish's We Have Company, he is interviewed in Bill Paige's book Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars, and this photo is in Mitch Michael's book Doin The Cruise...
=He is also mentioned in Rick Kaempfer's first book The Radio Producer's Handbook. In that book, Rick explains how he managed to acquire this incredible autograph...
=Patricia Motto's birthday is July 9. Happy Birthday Pat! She is the author of To the Men I've Loved. This photo of her from back in the day (with White Sox players Wilbur Wood and Jay Johnstone) is in the book.
=This week last year she was out and about promoting To the Men I've Loved. Here's a great primer Q&A with Patricia Motto about her book.
Illinois Adult Use Cannabis and Chug A Chug
=Eckhartz Press authors have achieved some pretty impressive things over the years, but we'd be hard-pressed to name a more impressive feat than Janet Sutherland achieved this week in 2019. Here is how she described it at the time...
We spent part of the day meeting with Illinois Congressman Sean Casten thanking him for signing Ellie’s law. I called Congressman Casten right after my mom died at the request of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation and asked him to sign HR 1648. This is an important bill especially for those who traveled to DC lobbied, worked really hard asking Congress for research and awareness were seeking for passage of Ellie’s Law. Ellie’s Law is a bill that seeks federal funding for brain aneurysm research. It is named in honor of Ellie Helton, a 14-year-old Apex, NC teenager, who died on July 16, 2014 as a result of a brain aneurysm. The bill, HR 1648, provides $5 million each fiscal year, for five years, to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to conduct or support further comprehensive research on brain aneurysms, studying a broader patient population diversified by age, sex, and race.Congressman Casten did sign the bill!!! We met with him this morning to thank him for supporting the bill and asked him to support another awareness resolution. We are quite honored to be able to meet with Congressman Casten and hit him with a lot of items on our brain aneurysm “list” which he was open to. I also gave him a copy of my book (“Nose Over Toes”) 🙂 (photograph copyright 2019, Lee Balgemann)
=Are you familiar with the Barrington White House in lovely Barrington, Illinois? We weren't until we arrived at Vicki Atkinson's launch party for Surviving Sue, this week (July 10) in 2023. What a gorgeous spot. What a fun book launch party.
=This week in 2018 (July 9), Eckhartz Press announced that The Scar Dance was available for pre-order. It's one of those memorable books that stays with you many years after you read it. This Q&A with author William Mansfield is a pretty good primer.
=This week in 2001, Joel Daly appeared with Steve & Johnnie on WGN Radio. That interview is still available on the WGN website.
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=This week in 2017, Bill Paige was making the rounds promoting his book. One of his stops was to the Bill & Wendy show on WGN Radio.
The owner of the Toronto Raptors, Larry Tanenbaum, is celebrating a birthday this week (July 8). Larry is a huge fan of Chuck Swirsky and provided this endorsement for the book...
Night in and night out there was no one who brought more heart and passion to the game of basketball than Chuck Swirsky. For ten years Chuck was the very soul of building fans who loved his unique style and upbeat personality. Nothing tasted better than his call to “bring out the salami and cheese Mamma”.. his special winning call. Chuck will always be a hero in Toronto.
=Fred Mitchell (July 10 birthday) is one of Chicago's top sportswriters. (Photo: Fred with Samantha Hoffman, Randy Richardson, and Rick Kaempfer.) This is what he had to say about the Eckhartz Press book Cubsessions (co-written by Randy)...
“During my 41-plus years as a sportswriter with the Chicago Tribune, I learned that Cubs fans are indeed a super-energized, passionate and yet often complicated breed. To capture the essence of their obsession and undying loyalty is a remarkable accomplishment. Yet Randy Richardson and Becky Sarwate manage to do just that through this rare collection of stories from the team’s legion of celebrity fans.”
=This week in 2019 (July 10), friends and colleagues of Chet Coppock met to memorialize their recently deceased friend at Eddie's in Arlington Heights. Jim O'Donnell was the emcee, but Chet's former producer Cheryl Raye Stout, former Bear Dan Jiggetts and former Bull Dave Corzine were also there. So was Eckhartz Press publisher Rick Kaempfer
=Two more rock star birthdays this week, and two more photos with Eckhartz Press author Bobby Skafish from his rock and roll interview book We Have Company. Suzanne Vega (July 11) and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds (July 13)
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Gehron was the program director of WLS AM 890 when John Records Landecker worked there in the 1970s. He's celebrating a birthday this week (July 7). On this memo below, which appears in Landecker's book, see if you can see a phrase that made John Landecker read this on the air.
