Saturday, October 31, 2026
Monday, October 26, 2026
Publishing Portal--October 26, 2026
The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Three chances to meet an Eckhartz Press author this week...
*Monday, October 26
=Maria Pappas will be at Three Top Lounge (above the Salt Shed), 1357 N. Elston in Chicago, for an appearance & book signing of Maria the Pappas – at 7 PM. Doors open at 6.
*Wednesday, October 28
=Nick Digilio will be at the Pickwick Theater (5 S. Prospect, Park Ridge) presenting the film "Poltergeist" at 7pm, and signing and selling his book 40 Years, 40 Horror Films.
=Check out the ABC-TV/Chicago morning show that day. Nick will be on the show promoting the "Poltergeist" showing and his book.
=He was also on Fox-32 late last week...
*Friday, October 30
=Nick Digilio will also be at Kaiser
Tiger restaurant near the United Center (1415 W. Randolph) from 6-8pm on Friday night, signing
and selling his new book 40 Years, 40
Horror Films.
Eckhartz in the News
National First Responders Day
=October 28 is National First Responders Day. Our late author Alex Burkholder was passionate about the work of first responders. His book Death of the Angels was about the famous 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels school, and the firefighters who were there that day were his heroes. When the book was released, on the 60th anniversary of the fire, we released it at a Chicago firehouse.
=Nick Digilio got a great endorsement this week for his book 40 Years, 40 Horror Films. Recognize this fellow?
Weird Al loves my new book about horror movies! #Horror #Movies #Books #Scary #WeirdAl #HorrorMovies #Film Buy your copy HERE: https://t.co/dsUJZ9DgMq https://t.co/nmTnVHKJta
— Nick Digilio (@nick_digilio) October 20, 2026
=He also got some nice coverage on WBBM Newsradio. Listen here.
International Authors Day
=November 1 is International Authors Day. You'd think that a boutique Chicago press like Eckhartz Press wouldn't have any international authors. You would be wrong. Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) lives in Portugal right now. Rick Kaempfer (Back in the DDR) and Felitzitas Sudendorf (A Reluctant Immigrant) grew up in Germany. Bob Boone (City U) was a teacher in Germany. Ann Wilson (In Small Boxes) grew up in Hong Kong. Chuck Swirsky (Always a Pleasure) is a citizen of Canada. Leonid Osseny, the illustrator of 1001 Train Rides in Chicago, grew up in Russia, and Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars author Bill Paige lives in Thailand.
The Front Page
=The right guy was in the audience for the latest production of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur classic, The Front Page: The man who wrote Sirens in the Loop about the history of the City News Bureau, Jim Elsener. The City News Bureau plays a big part in the plot of the play.
Perspectives in Black and White
=This week the Trump Justice Department announced an investigation into the Evanston Reparations Fund, which was passed by the Evanston City Council on a 8-1 vote in 2019. Seven years later, the DOJ now says it is “odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.”
=Believe it or not, we have a whole book about the Evanston Reparations Fund and the reason it exists in the first place. Notably, the book strongly disagrees with the view of the DOJ. It was written by Michael Frank Miles, and it's called Perspectives in Black and White.
Slivers now available as e-book on Amazon
=The spooky novel by Vicki Atkinson is now also available on Amazon as an e-book. Do we have the link? Why yes we do. Click here.
=Great coverage of Robert Conlon's historical novel this week in the Irish American News. You can read all about it here.
Eckhartz Press birthdays...
*Eckhartz Press (November 1)
*Jack Mabley (October 26, 1915)
=The famed Chicago newspaper columnist and City News Bureau alum is featured in Sirens in the Loop.
*Ralph Kiner (October 27, 1922)
=The Cubs Hall of Famer is featured in EveryCubEver. Here's his entry in the book...
*Dennis Franz (October 28)
=The famous Chicago-born actor shared his Cubs love in the book Cubsessions (written by Becky Sarwate and Randy Richardson).
=Vesna is one of the enthusiastic supporters of Brent Petersen's foodie novel Truffle Hunt. Here's what she had to say about it...
“Truffle Hunt” serves up a five-star gourmet feast of murder, hidden historical gems, deep family pride, a dash of humor and romance, topped with delicate slices of heavenly, golden truffles and a glass of nectar from the deepest Eastern European wine cellars. As a gourmand, mushroom hunter, animal lover and world traveler, I ate the delicious book up in just a couple of sittings. Now, all I need is a truffle hunting dog, a simian bartender, and I can I can bring the pages of this book to life in my kitchen!
=The man who has personally met seemingly every person to step foot in Chicago, Ronnie Woo Woo Wickers (October 31) is featured in Cubsessions. Ronnie even came out to a few of the Cubsessions book signings. His health hasn't been great lately. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ronnie.
Fred McGriff 1963-- (Cubs 2001-2002)
He was nicknamed the Crime Dog because of his last name’s similarity to the “actual” crime dog McGruff. Our crime dog, it’s safe to say, was at best a reluctant Cub. He refused to be traded to the Cubs at first, and then when he finally agreed to the trade, he seemed to be a bad luck charm as the surging Cubs faded out of contention shortly after he arrived in 2001. He had a great season in 2002 (30 HR, 103 RBI), but that team was headed nowhere. He played two more seasons after he left Chicago and ended his career with 493 home runs. During his big-league career he was one of the premier sluggers in the game. That’s why he was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
More events coming in November
Sunday, November 8
=Maria Pappas at the G-Man Tavern, 3740 N. Clark St., Chicago. Matinee, interview and reading by Maria and book signing. We're calling this one the
official launch party. 1-4pm.
Monday, November 9
=Richard Reeder is doing a book talk and signing at the Mather Senior Community in Evanston (425 Davis Street) at 2pm. His novel Sarasota will be the topic of discussion.
Saturday, November 14
=Book launch party for Russ Fahrner for his book Face Your Monster. It will be at Salerno's Pizza (1201 W. Grand Avenue in Chicago) from 1-3 PM. Russ will do a brief presentation before signing and selling his book. Pizza and snacks will be available there.
Sunday, November 15
=Maria Pappas and her co-author Mark Eleveld will be at the Green Mill Jazz Lounge, 4802 N Broadway, Chicago. There will be a 30-minute program starring Maria on the famous jazz stage, followed by a book signing – 3 – 5:30 PM.
Wednesday, November 18 &
Thursday, November 19
=A tribute to Tony Fitzpatrick (The Sun at the End of the Road). Tony's friends Rick Kogan and Jon Langford (and a host of others) will be paying tribute to the gifted artist, actor, and writer at Constellation Chicago (3111 N. Western Avenue) for two consecutive nights doing a show they called "Something Beautiful: Words, Songs, and Poems of Tony Fitzpatrick." Tickets are available here (18th) and here (19th).
=No promises that it doesn't end like this memorial parade for Tony in New Orleans last year. What a moment.
Thursday, November 19
=Maria Pappas will also be at The
Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, doing a reading and signing, at 7PM.
+In 2024 Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and Dave ran into the co-author of Chili Dog MVP, Dr. David Fletcher. It wasn't a chance meeting. Doc was kind enough to score these seats. It was Rick's first Illini game in 40 years. That Illini Dad shirt Dave is wearing was once the property of Rick's dad Eckhard.
+In 2025 (October 30), we released Gloria Golec's South Side Memories.
And...
=The Loop Exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications was unveiled to the public this week in 2025. Dean Richards did a great tour of it in this segment on the WGN-TV Morning News.
=Dane Placko did a report on the entire museum for WFLD-Channel 32. Here's a peek at it. NBC-5 was there as well. So was Axios Chicago. We also like this Facebook reel of WLS Radio's Cara Carriveau discovering live on camera that she was in the display.
=An enlarged framed photo of The Loop Files cover autographed by dozens of Loop stars from over the years is displayed. The book is even for sale there at the museum gift shop.
And from the way, way-back machine...
November 1, 2004, Bill Zwecker interviewed Rick Kaempfer and John "Swany" Swanson in the Chicago Sun Times. You can still read that interview here.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Monday, October 19, 2026
Publishing Portal--October 19, 2026
The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
It's After Hours Podcast Monday, featuring Candace Jordan talking about social and philanthropic scene in the fall and her friend Maria Pappas. https://t.co/NOMWXI1K4a https://t.co/vz9AJuNqSa
— Rick Kogan (@rickkogan) October 12, 2026
Upcoming Events...
– Sun, Nov 8, G-Man Tavern, 3740 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60613, Matinee, Interview and reading by Maria and book signing. We're calling this one the official launch party. 1-4pm.
– Sun, Nov 15, Green Mill Jazz Lounge, 4802 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640, 30-minute program by Maria and book signing – 3 – 5:30 PM
--Thurs, Nov 19. The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, reading and signing, 7PM
=Two Nick Digilio appearances coming before the end of the month.
=He will be at the Pickwick Theater (5 S. Prospect, Park Ridge) on Wednesday, October 28 presenting the film "Poltergeist" at 7pm.
=Then on October 30, he'll be at Kaiser Tiger restaurant near the United Center (1415 W. Randolph) from 6-8pm, signing and selling his new book 40 Years, 40 Horror Films.
=Excellent workshop at the Irish American Heritage Center with Bob Conlon on Saturday. 25 people came to hear Bob give advice on how to write historical fiction, and particularly Irish historical fiction. Thanks to everyone who came out...
=Great turnout in Oak Park last week for Nick's Pix. He also has announced next month's choice.
=Here's one last photo of Gloria Golec's triumphant return to the Archer Heights Library. This one was taken by the librarian.
Pat Colander
=One of our favorite authors, Pat Colander, would have been celebrating a birthday this week (October 25). Pat was our first author to win the Book of the Year award from the Chicago Writers Association. Her book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral: And other True Tales of Love and Death in Chicago is a journalistic masterpiece. Unbeknownst to us, Pat was already sick at the time of its publication. She passed away in January of 2019. We still miss her.
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*Tommy Kaempfer (October 19)
=Rick's oldest son was born live on the air on WJMK Radio. The entire transcript of Rick's call from the delivery room to the John Landecker show is contained in the Eckhartz Press book, Father Knows Nothing. (Photo: Landecker interviewing 5-year old Tommy). Tommy is 31 now. In 2023, he edited the Kevin Matthews movie The Ed Zeppelin Story. He also has his own music review channel on YouTube under the name, The Wonky Angle.
*Mordecai Three Finger Brown (October 19, 1876)
=This is the Cub Hall of Famer's entry in EveryCubEver...
Mordecai Brown 1876–1948 (Cubs 1904-1912, 1916)
He was born in 1876, the same year the Cubs played their very first season in the National League. Three Finger probably owns one of the best nicknames in baseball history, and he earned it the hard way. As a seven-year-old boy, Mordecai caught his right hand in a corn grinder on his uncle’s farm. They needed to amputate almost the entire index finger, and the middle finger was mangled and left crooked. His little finger was also stubbed. When he learned to add spin to the ball by releasing it off his stub, he became a pitcher. When he started to have success, the newspapers called him Three Finger for obvious reasons. Three Finger is one of the greatest pitchers to ever wear a Cubs uniform. In ten years with the Cubs, he won 188 games, including 29 games in 1908 and 27 games in 1909. He led the league in wins, ERA, shutouts, and even saves (in four different years). He also pitched in four World Series for the Cubs. In seven World Series starts, he won five (five complete games), and three of those were shutouts. That, sadly, is probably a Cubs record that will never be broken. Three Finger was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949: one year after his death. His 1.80 career Cubs ERA and 48 shutouts are both the best in franchise history.
Historical note: On the day that Mark Twain died (1910), Brown was on the hill for the Cubs. He beat the Reds 6-1 at West Side Grounds.
*Evander Holyfield (October 19)
=Evander rates his own chapter in Randy Merkin's book Behind the Glass...
*John Williams (October 19).
=WGN Radio's midday star was one of the endorsers of Beth Jacobellis' novel Cameo...
Mythical but modern, Cameo shows us how to listen to the past to find love in the present.
=The late singer/songwriter/guitarist makes a surprise appearance in Chuck Swirsky's book Always a Pleasure.
*Snoop Dogg (October 20)
=You might also be surprised to hear that Snoop appears in Randy Merkin's Behind the Glass.
*Sir Georg Solti (October 21, 1912)
=The late, great conductor makes several appearances in the upcoming Eckhartz Press book, The CEO's Symphony. Here's a photo from the book, Sir Georg with author Henry Fogel...
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=Wilbur was a 20-game winner for the White Sox in the 1970s, but he also managed to do something even more impressive. He found his way into three Eckhartz Press books. This first photo of Wilbur with Nancy Faust and Bill Melton appears in Chili Dog MVP. The second photo of Wilbur and Jay Johnstone with Soxette (and future Eckhartz Press author Pat Motto) appears in To The Men I've Loved. The third photo of Wilbur appears in the upcoming Frank Mathie book The Feature Creature. Frank got the opportunity to hit against Wilbur while doing a story for ABC-7 in Chicago. Wilbur passed away earlier this year. His final interview was recorded by Chili Dog MVP author David Fletcher and appears in the film My Father, Dick Allen.
*Jimmie Foxx (October
22, 1907)
=Jimmy looks a bit like Mike Ditka, doesn't he? This is the Cub Hall of Famer's entry in EveryCubEver...
Jimmie Foxx 1907–1967 (Cubs 1942, 1944)
Jimmie was nicknamed the Beast because of his imposing physical presence. Foxx is one of the all-time greatest sluggers: a two-time World Series champ, a three-time MVP, winner of two batting titles. Foxx led the league in home runs four times, RBI three times (despite playing at the same time as Ruth and Gehrig), and hit 534 career home runs. Unfortunately for Cubs fans, only three of those home runs came with the Cubs, who picked him up one year after his last good season. He hit .190 with the team in 225 at bats, and was released in 1944. He later managed one of the women’s teams during the war and was the inspiration for the character played by Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own.
*Pam Zekman (October 22)
=The great investigative reporter for WBBM-Channel 2 Chicago was naturally a City News Alum. Yes, she is featured in the Eckhartz Press book about that admired news organization: Sirens in the Loop.
*Pele (October 23, 1940)
=The greatest soccer player of all-time appears in two Eckhartz Press books. The top photo is Pele with Green White Soccer Club legend Tom Czop from the book Grun Weiss Vor! The second photo is Pele's Signature Shoes, which are discussed and highlighted in Ryan Trembath's entertaining book about the signature shoe craze.
*William Hulbert (October 23, 1832)
=This is the Cub Hall of Famer's entry in EveryCubEver...
William Hulbert 1832–1882 (White Stockings President, Founder of National League)
William was born during the Andrew Jackson presidency. Hulbert became the president of the White Stockings after the Chicago Fire, and signed a bunch of players against league rules. Anticipating that he would get in trouble for that, he worked behind the scenes with fellow owners to form a new league the next season. The National League officially began play in 1876, and Hulbert was not punished. He became the president of the National League the following season and served in that role until his death in 1882. Among his accomplishments was ridding the league of the rampant gambling that had been such a big problem in the National Association. His gravestone in Graceland Cemetery looks like a baseball. He is a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame.
*Wayne Rooney (October 24)
=Wayne appears in Paul Banks' book about the success of the Premier League in America, Transatlantic Passage. Paul even managed to snap this shot of the former Manchester United man.
*Drake (October 24)
=Chuck Swirsky met Drake during his days in Canada, and tells that story in Always a Pleasure.
*Bill Wyman (October 24)
=The former Rolling Stones bassist appears in Bobby Skafish's We Have Company.
*Hal Bruno (October 25, 1928)
=The famed reporter (ABC) was another prominent alum of City News
Bureau. Naturally, he appears in our book about the CNB, Sirens in the Loop.
=Eckhartz Press made the front page! Great article in the Daily Herald this week in 2025 about Jeff Reiter and his book The Best of Words on Birds. Thanks to Daily Herald writer Katlyn Smith.
=This week in 2023 Rick Kaempfer got the first copy of The Loop Files.
=This week in 2022 (October 26), Chuck Swirsky's book Always a Pleasure was released by Eckhartz Press. Chuck was a promotional machine the next two months pitching the book. This week in 2022, he was on WGN Radio with Bob Sirott (October 20), and was featured in the Chicago Sun Times (October 20).
The Unplanned Life and Wicker Park Wishes
=This week in 2020 (October 21), Roger Badesch was interviewed by Margaret Larkin for her Metrolingua blog about his memoir The Unplanned Life. You can still read that interview here.
=At the time, we had no way of knowing that Margaret Larkin would become an Eckhartz Press author herself. Just two years later (October 22), she appeared in Wicker Park to promote her novel Wicker Park Wishes...
=This week in 2021 (October 2), Daily Herald editor/columnist Jim Baumann was featured in Robert Feder's column. Jim had just published his highly acclaimed book Grammar Moses. The book was a collection of Jim's famous grammar columns from the Daily Herald.
=This week in 2020 (October 22) we lost one of our favorite Eckhartz Press authors, the universally beloved Joel Daly. Joel was a Renaissance man, anchorman/reporter/attorney/singer/actor/pilot. His book The Daly News was a 2014 release by Eckhartz Press. When Joel passed away he was lionized all over the media. Of course Channel 7 did an on-air tribute to Joel. The Sun-Times published this wonderful obit. Media writer Robert Feder also paid tribute. Great guy. We miss him.
=This week in 2020 (October 22), author Kipper McGee appeared on the RadioInfo podcast to talk about his media book Brandwidth. You can still listen to that here.
=This week in 2018 (October 20), Mitch Michaels drove all the way to Northwest Indiana for a book signing at Tom Lounges' record store. Two of the members of M&R Rush showed up to say hello. Mitch repaid the favor this year by providing the voice for M&R Rush's audio book.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 2017 (October 23) we released the Hall of Fame edition of Records Truly Is My Middle Name after it was announced that John Landecker had been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. He was later also inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. John wrote a few new chapters and added a few dozen more photos for the new addition.
=Two days later he made an appearance at Purdue University (October 25). Both John and co-author Rick Kaempfer appeared for a lecture in the media department.
Best Seat in the House and EveryCubEver
=This week in 2016 (October 20), as the Cubs were beginning their World Series run, WCIU-TV invited two of our authors Rick Kaempfer (EveryCubEver) and Bruce Bohrer (Best Seat in the House) to be part of their morning show, live from Wrigleyville. This is Bruce with the WCIU Morning host at the time, Jon Hansen.
=This week in 2016 (October 26), Bobby Skafish appeared on Kipper McGee's podcast to discuss his book We Have Company.
Cheeseland and Lost In the Ivy
=This week in 2015 (October 21), Eckhartz Press author Randy Richardson was asked to attend the Carl Sandberg Literary Awards to benefit the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Steven Sondheim, Rick Bayless, Scott Simon, Bill Kurtis, Marv Levy, Sara Paretsky, Jim Peterik and Scott Turow were among the other attendees. You know, no big whoop.
=Though this book is not technically an Eckhartz Press book, it did begin co-publisher Rick Kaempfer's official literary career. 22 years ago this month (October 21, 2004), Channel 7 reporter Andy Shaw interviewed Rick and his co-author John "Swany" Swanson for Lake Magazine. You can read the entire interview here, if you're interested.
