The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Introducing Mark Wukas
=We're awaiting the proof from the printer for our next novel, The Kiss of Night by Mark Wukas. When it arrives next week, we'll put the novel up for pre-sale. In the meantime, who is Mark Wukas?
Mark Wukas has spent his life in Chicago working as professional asker of questions as both a teacher and writer--and sometimes both at the same time.
A native South Sider
and graduate of Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Wukas credits his high
school job--two years as an Andy Frain usher--with giving him a knowledge of
the city and its neighborhoods that helped him on the streets as a young
reporter.
After receiving his
B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and spending two happy years at The Daily Illini, he returned to his
high school alma mater to teach English before embarking on a 20-year career in
journalism and professional writing. His stops included The Palos Regional,
City News Bureau, United Press International, Radio Free Europe, and he spent
several years being “Special to the Tribune.” To supplement his meager pay as a
writer, Wukas returned to teaching literature and composition as an adjunct
professor at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Columbia College and
Roosevelt University.
Wukas left public
relations to return to the classroom, and after a year teaching world history
and senior writing at Fasman Yeshiva in Skokie, Ill., he landed a job teaching
English at New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Ill., where he spent 19 years
teaching English and coaching cross country and track and field before retiring
in 2021.
Wukas lives in either Uptown or Edgewater, depending upon where realtors draw the line, and spends his time writing the stories he never had time to tell while teaching and coaching.
=Author Ken Smoller spent the morning on Tuesday (January 21) at WGN-TV. Thanks to everyone there (Larry Potash, Robin Baumgarten, Pat Tomasulo. Paul Konrad, and Mike Toomey) for being gracious hosts as always.
=The Daily Herald wrote a nice piece about Ken this week.
=Dan Evans is celebrating a birthday this week (January 27). The former White Sox executive provided a blurb for Ken Smoller's book...
Last Comiskey is a profound work, professionally and personally stirring memories of a ballpark that was unique in its visuals, scents, quirks, noise, intimacy, and history. We gathered there to have fun and enjoy baseball. I’m grateful to Matt Flesch and Ken Smoller for rekindling such beautiful times.
To the Men I've Loved (God Help Them)
=Congrats to Eckhartz Press author Pat Motto for her mention in the latest Illinois Alumni Magazine...
"Patricia A. Motto, ’69 LAS, MA ’72 LAS, published To the Men I’ve Loved (God Help Them) (Eckhartz Press, 2024). The memoir traces Motto’s infatuation with a boy in kindergarten through to her dalliance with a professional baseball player and beyond."
=This week in 1989 (January 31) Warrant released their album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin Rich. You can guess what happened next. That's right, an in-store appearance at Flip Side. You may recognize this photo from the book...
=In some ways Brent Petersen is the ultimate Eckhartz Press success story. Ten years ago he came to us with a foodie novel about truffles. It's not only a wonderful novel, it helped launch a whole career for Brent. He started his own website (Destination Eat Drink) and his own podcast (Destination Eat Drink) and is now one of the foremost foodie experts in the world. As we count down to the tenth anniversary of Truffle Hunt, Brent is using his substack (Destination Eat Drink) to highlight Truffle Hunt. This piece is called The Food Critic. Look for more features dropping every Monday for the next few weeks. The actual anniversary is February 14.
Joe Jackson, Plaintiff, vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club, Defendant
=This week in 2011 (February 1), Roger Badesch was one of the people stuck on Lake Shore Drive during a horrible snowstorm. He called into WGN Radio (where he worked) and provided a truly amazing play-by-play of the mayhem until his phone battery died and he had to abandon the car. That inspired this cover photo (taken that day) for his book, which was published by Eckhartz Press in 2020.
This week in 2023 (January 30), Chicago lost one of the greatest players to ever wear a Blackhawks uniform, Bobby Hull. Chuck Swirsky features Bobby in his Eckhartz Press book Always a Pleasure.
=The Living Wills is the first book we ever published, and it remains one of our best selling books largely thanks to the passion of co-author Brendan Sullivan. This week last year, 12 years after it's release, he was still doing appearances promoting it.
Brendan: I had the pleasure of discussing "The Living Wills," the novel I wrote (with Rick Kaempfer) at another book club meeting. We discussed our unique creative writing process, as well as the plot and character development. Wonderful members of the "Let's Get Lit" club in Bolingbrook, IL. You can learn more about the novel (and/or order a copy) at the publisher, Eckhartz Press, And I'm always available to meet with any book club who wants to talk to the author. Always a fun evening. I'm a low maintenance guest. Very proud of "The Living Wills."
=This week in 2012 (February 1), We released our second book ever, Down at the Golden Coin by Kim Strickland. It's a fun and quirky novel about meeting the Messiah at a laundromat.
=This week in 2019 (February 1), pre-sales began for Nose Over Toes by Janet Sutherland. It's the harrowing but inspiring tale of Janet's recovery from a brain aneurysm.
=A wonderful new review of Surviving Sue.
=Also, congrats to Surviving Sue author Vicki Atkinson and her co-host Wynne for reaching a milestone this past week.
Podcast Friday! Celebrating #100 🎉🙂🎉 @wynneleon.bsky.social sharingtheheartofthematter.com/2025/01/24/e...
— Dr.Vicki Atkinson (@vickiatkinson.bsky.social) January 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
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=One of the photos in the book (below) was taken this week in 1992 (January 31). The Loop held a Blood Drive and the following Loop jocks showed up to help. (L-R: Terry Gibson, John Fisher, Wendy Snyder, Rick Kaempfer, Stan Lawrence)
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=Here's a trivia question for you. Who was the first (and last) news anchor to co-anchor a newscast in Chicago with Oprah Winfrey (celebrating a birthday this week/Jan 29)? That would be Eckhartz Press author Joel Daly, who tells that memorable tale in the pages of The Daly News. Here's the video proof...
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Landecker's memoir was a Book of the Year finalist in 2013. This week in 2016 (January 29), Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner passed away. John had a great story about his brush with the band, so we offered up that section as a free except. You can read it here.
=The great thing about this book is the timelessness of it. A full five years later (this week in 2018, January 30) John Landecker appeared on WGN radio with Justin Kaufmann to talk about the book. Ironically, after Justin left the station, Landecker was named as the new host of that timeslot. Co-author Rick Kaempfer talked to him about that same book last time he was on the air with him, in the fall of 2023.
Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars
=Bill Paige's 2017 Eckhartz Press book has a ton of great interviews with rock stars, including two were born this week in history, Eddie Van Halen (January 26) and Phil Collins (January 30). That's the scribe below...
=This week in 2016 (February 1), Eckhartz Press author Dobie Maxwell debuted his new radio show, The Diabetic Show on WGTD. Just a year later he stopped by Steve Cochran's show on WGN radio to talk about his book Monkey in the Middle.
Safe Inside
