The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Eckhartz Press at the CWA Book of the Year Awards
=Six, count 'em, Six Eckhartz Press authors represented our little publishing company last weekend at the Tip Top Tap room in the Allerton Hotel for the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Awards. (Left to right) Randy Richardson (Cubsessions), Bob Boone (City U), Rick Kaempfer (The Loop Files), Richard Reeder (1001 Train Rides in Chicago), Dave Stern (The Balding Handbook), and Dr. David Fletcher (Chili Dog MVP).
Happy Birthday!
=Eckhartz Press author Chuck Swirsky is celebrating a birthday today (January 30). The Chicago Bulls radio play-by-play man added "author" to his business card when Eckhartz Press published his memoir Always a Pleasure in the fall of 2022. The book is chock-full of great photographs including this one with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who is also celebrating a birthday today.
=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. 12 years after it's release he is still doing appearances promoting it.
Brendan: This past Thursday 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 2011, 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.
Don't forget, this weekend: Lou Macaluso will be signing and selling his Eckhartz Press book Leaving Glory for Greatness at the Thornton Distillery Book Fair, 400 E. Margaret Street, Thornton, IL on February 4th from Noon to 5pm.
This week in 2012, 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, 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.
=One of the photos in the book (below) was taken this week in 1992. 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? That would be Eckhartz Press author Joel Daly, who tells that memorable tale in the pages of The Daly News.
=I'm hard at work doing the update of the book, which will be released around Opening Day this year. Two great stories that don't need updating are the life stories of two birthday boys this week. The greatest Cub of all-time, Ernie Banks, and one you may not remember at all, Bob Muncrief.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Landecker's memoir was a Book of the Year finalist in 2013. Shortly after the book came out, 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) 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. I talked to him about that same book last time I 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 this week's birthday boy, Phil Collins.
=This week in 2016, 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
=Bobby Skafish's tome about his 40 years of rock and roll encounters is like a history book of the genre, written by someone who personally met and interviewed the biggest stars imaginable. Two of the greats featured in the book are celebrating birthdays this week, Johnny Rotten (The Sex Pistols) and Graham Nash (photo with Bobby)
=Chet Coppock was friends with George Halas, founder of the Bears and the NFL. Chet went to every opening game for the Bears for 68 straight years. When Papa Bear died in 1983, Chet broke the story on the local news (he was doing sports at Channel 5 at the time). He also wrote about him in his Eckhartz Press book. Papa Bear was born this week in 1895.
