The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Chili Dog MVP co-author John Owens is featured in this month's media column in the Illinois Entertainer. It just came out yesterday! You can read that interview here.
=The film is now in post-production! Coming in 2026.
=This week's guest on Minutia Men Celebrity Interview is the always colorful co-author of Mob Adjacent, Michael Gentile Jr. That interview will post on Wednesday. We'll post a link when it goes live.
=In the meantime, check out this promotional video with the filmaker who is directing the Mob Adjacent movie, Gino Cafarelli.
=We will have some incredibly exciting Loop-related news in a few weeks. It involves the author of The Loop Files working together with a Chicago institution to honor the legacy of the station. That's it for this week's teaser. More to come in the following weeks.
=Another big story in Loop news. Have you seen the trailer to The Loop Files contributor Kevin Matthews upcoming movie?
=Two chances to see Mark Wukas at the Printer's Row Litfest this weekend...
=Saturday September 6, From Noon-1pm, Mark Wukas will be on the center-stage discussing his novel The Kiss of Night along with other Chicago authors James Stewart III, Defiant Acts, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., The El in conversation with Vincent Francone.
=Sunday September 7, From 2pm-6pm, Mark Wukas will be signing and selling copies of his book The Kiss of Night. He will be in the Chicago Writers Association tent
=It's a big week for Jeff Reiter. Are these on your calendar?
=September 4, 6:30-7:30 in the Cantigny Visitor's Center Theatre, A book talk by Jeff Reiter about The Best of Words on Birds. Register here.
=Sunday September 7, From 10am--2pm, Jeff Reiter will be at Printer's Row Lit Fest signing and selling copies of his book The Best of Words on Birds. He will be in the Chicago Writers Association tent.
=September 12-14, Jeff Reiter will be manning a table at the Urban Birding Festival at Peggy Notebaert musuem in Chicago, signing and selling copies of his book.
=Big news about the Flip Side. Looks like we have yet another Hall of Famer on our hands. This week we have received confirmation that our book, The Flip Side: Where Chicago Rocked has been placed in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives in Cleveland. Congrats to Carl & Larry Rosenbaum, and their co-author Ken Churilla.
=If you'd like to meet Larry, this coming weekend you'll have another chance. Saturday September 6, 12:30-3pm, Larry Rosenbaum will be signing and selling copies of his book The Flip Side. He will be in the Chicago Writers Association tent at the Printer's Row Litfest.
=On September 14th, Mitch Michaels will be inducted into the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Rialto Theater. Tickets available here.
=It's been quite a ride for Mitch. This week in 2017, Mitch Michaels and Ken Churilla were all over the media promoting their book about Mitch's life, Doin' the Cruise. August 31st was a particularly busy one. It included a stop at WGN-TV...
One year ago today my book was released: Doin The Cruise: Memories From a Lifetime in Radio & Rock n Roll. I wrote the book for me, for my kids and grand kids so they knew at least some of what I had done with my life, but I also wrote it for all those of you who have been listening throughout years. We’ve spent a great deal of time together and I thought a chronology of the Chicago radio landscape, from my point of view, over the past forty-five plus years might be of some interest. I wanted to say thanks to my publishers Rick Kaempfer and David Stern from Eckhartz Press who did such a great job and a special thanks to Ken Churilla (my co-author) who spent two years listening, recording and writing down my stories. Ken was required to learn a brand new language for this project. He had to learn “Mitch Speaks” and he learned it very well. Forgive me if this sounds like I’m reliving A Day in The Life, because that’s exactly what I’m doing! This day, one year ago was so special. It started with an interview on The Noon News at WGN-TV with Steve Sanders who turned out to be a fan. Big fun! Great guy!! Followed by a book release party later that afternoon, at Lloyd’s of Chicago, attended by old friends and co-workers alike. It was an amazing day! It’s been a whirlwind of a year and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Worth a Second Look and Oscars Biggest Mistakes
=Eric Litt has written two books for us, and he'll be at Printer's Row Litfest. (Get it? Litt at Lit-fest?) Saturday September 6, from 10am--12:30pm, Eric Litt will be signing and selling copies of his Eckhartz Press books Oscars Biggest Mistakes and Worth a Second Look. He will be in the Chicago Writers Association tent.
=Great job by Vicki Atkinson and Wynne Leon interviewing Eckhartz Press author Robert Conlon about his book Celtic Knot. You can watch/listen to that interview here.
WGN-TV Morning News
=This week (September 6) marks the 31st anniversary of the WGN-TV Morning News. Most of the faces have remained the same since the beginning of that time, including Larry Potash, Robin Baumgarten, Paul Konrad, Pat Tomasulo, and Dean Richards. The show has also been very gracious to Eckhartz Press over the years, featuring a number of our authors. Here are a few on set. Bobby Skafish, Chuck Swirsky, Rich King, Joel Daly, John Landecker, and Rick Kaempfer.
Windy City Live
=This week in 2021, the show Windy City Live aired for the last time as a regular weekday show on Channel 7 in Chicago. Our authors always enjoyed their times on the show. Here are a few examples...
=This week in 2016 (September 2), we released a book by M.L Collins called Out the Door! It was our little book that could. Unknown author, writing about Door County, and doing it with wit and charm. The cover was a grabber, it built a cult following, and sold well. Then, at the end of the year, it was named the Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association.
=The release party for Rich King's book Ike & Me was one for the ages, not only because of it's location (Comiskey Park or whatever it is currently being called), but also because it drew a who's who of Chicago television. One of the luminaries who attended that day was retired WGN-TV news anchor Robert Jordan. He's celebrating a birthday this week (August 31). That's him in the center of the photo flanked on either side by Rich and Ike, and on the corners by Dan Roan and Ryan Baker.
=This week in 2018, Judge Michael Bender sat down for this Q&A to talk about his book Protecting Children: Bettering the World One Child at a Time. His book was actually a top 10 Amazon hit.
=These two books have a few things in common, and one of them is the support of radio personality Johnnie Putman (September 5 birthday). She gave a wonderful endorsement to Roger's book...
“This book’s cover photo was taken on a night we’ll never forget. Trust us, we never had a night like that on the radio before or since and, along with our WGN radio listeners, were praying that Roger would survive. Spoiler alert: He did! In this book Roger shares the details of that night and other adventures, including his time with Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, and first woman mayor, Jane Byrne. “The Unplanned Life” of this man we’re so proud to call a friend was obviously part of a bigger plan. Thankfully, he listened to the universe and went along for the ride. Buckle up, it’s a good one!”
=And then she made an in-person appearance at a Beth Jacobellis signing...
Read a book day
=September 6 is Read a Book Day and we thought we'd take the opportunity to mention a few of the novels we have released over the years. They don't get as much attention as the non-fiction books, but let's face it, who doesn't like to dig in to a little fiction every now and then? Seems like Read a Book Day is the perfect opportunity. Try The Living Wills, Down at the Golden Coin, Cheeseland, Lost in the Ivy, Safe Inside, An Off-White Christmas, Righteous Might, City U, Wicker Park Wishes, Talking Bout My Generation, Belle, Back in the DDR, and Severance, to name a few.
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=Bill Paige's book is one of the few you'll find with a Freddie Mercury interview. Freddie would have been celebrating a birthday this week (September 5).
=We just lost Bob Newhart last July, but the famous comedian/Cubs fan did contribute to our book Cubsessions back in 2019 (written by Randy Richardson and Becky Sarwate). Want to know how Bob felt in 2016 after the Cubs won the World Series? He had been a Cubs fan so long, he greeted the 1945 Cubs at the train station when they won the pennant. Bob's Cubs joy is found in the pages of Cubsessions. It would have been his birthday this week (September 5)
=This week in 2019 (September 7), Bobby Skafish made an appearance at our favorite record store, Blue Village Vinyl in Westmont. A few of his old pals were there to help him celebrate. That's former Loop colleagues Wendy Snyder and Jimmy Mac McInerney.
=Jeanne Bellezzo grew up in the Chicago area, but she lives in California now. This week in 2016, she came to town to do a launch party for her book at Lone Star Cafe on the Northwest Side of Chicago. It was a great night. We even met one of our future editors, Mary Leonard.
=Randy Merkin's book is about the many sports legends he has met and booked as guests during his long and successful career as a sports radio producer. Three of the stars featured in his book have birthdays this week. Terry Bradshaw (September 2), Tom Watson (September 4) and Al McGuire (September 7). Each of them rate their own chapter in Behind the Glass. Also, celebrating a birthday this week (September 7) is Randy's former ESPN Radio colleague Jonathan Hood, who came out to the launch party for the book.
=Ken Smoller was in town this week last year, and he was everywhere from Printer's Row Litfest to libraries in Crestwood, Riverside, Evergreen Park, and Lake Villa. (Ken Smoller shown here with Eckhartz Press publishers Rick Kaempfer and David Stern)
=This week in 2018, Richard Reeder appeared on Rick Kogan's WGN Radio show to talk about his book 1001 Train Rides in Chicago.
=This week in 2021 (September 2), John Landecker had Rick Kaempfer on his WGN Radio show to talk about the Cubs. At the time people were saying that year's Cubs team was the worst ever. Rick gave John many more examples of teams that were worse. Far worse. You can listen to it here.
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=Can you identify the man who gave his name to this signature shoe? It's none other than former tennis star Jimmy Connors. Ryan Trembath writes about Jimmy and this shoe in his Eckhartz Press book about the celebrities who spawned the signature shoe world. Jimmy's birthday is this week (September 2)
And finally...
This week in 2014 (September 5) we almost lost four of our authors in a monsoon at Wrigley Field. James Finn Garner (contributor to Write City Review), Donald Evans (An Off-White Christmas), Randy Richardson (Cubsessions, Lost in the Ivy, Cheeseland) and Rick Kaempfer narrowly escaped with their lives. The Cubs weren't as lucky.
