The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Happy Birthday
=Eckhartz Press author Ken Smoller is celebrating a birthday this week (May 6). Ken's book Last Comiskey is available for pre-order right now!
Two Book Events Coming this week...
May 9
=An appearance in Palos Heights by Surviving Sue author Vicki Atkinson. Don't miss it!
May 11
=The Loop Files Comes to Pollyana Brewing Company in Roselle!
=Axios Chicago wrote about that appearance this week, and included an interview with author Rick Kaempfer.
=Rick will be on WGN Radio on Friday night talking about this event and the book.
*Coming Next Week!
SABR Chicago members have been invited to the official “Last Comiskey” book launch event May 16, 2024 at the Chicago History Museum.
— SABRChicago (@SABRChicago) May 6, 2024
Preorder the book at https://t.co/Wa4DDRrjDB
The event is free, but space is limited—please RSVP at: info@stadiumvagabond.com pic.twitter.com/XGLHgVsV47
*Happy Anniversary!
=This week in 2016, we released Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman by Jeanne Bellezzo. Here's a Q&A with the author the week the book came out.
=This week in 2019 was a big week for EveryCubEver. Rick got the official approval of the book from Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at a Cubs game on May 6, and then two days later Rick appeared on stage participating in the musical "Miracle"...
=This week in 2017, we signed author Bob Shannon (photo). He wrote the book Turn it Up for us. One of the chapters is about this week's birthday boy, the legendary announcer Gary Owens (May 10).
*Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 1976 one of the most memorable moments in John Landecker's book Records Truly is My Middle Name occurred. John and his friend John Travolta appeared at Woodfield Mall expecting to encounter a few hundred fans. Instead there were 20,000+.
=This week in 2016, Pat Colander appeared on Rick Kogan's show on WGN Radio discussing her book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral. You can listen to that interview here.
=This week in 2019, Janet Sutherland appeared on the Radio Health Journal, a program that is syndicated to over 500 radio stations in America. That's her with the show's executive producer, Reed Pence.
=This week (May 7) is WGN-TV's Dina Bair's birthday. Dina was a big supporter of our book The Living Wills. She interviewed Rick and Brendan on the midday show at WGN, and offered this review of the book...
This is so terrific and so creative! I was laughing out loud and I was crying. You absolutely have to pick up this book and read it. It’s wonderful.
=This week (May 10) is also WGN-TV's Larry Hawley's birthday. He had author Paul M. Banks on his television show, and offered this review of his book...
“Paul is as versatile of a sports journalist as I’ve ever met in my career, covering a wide variety of sports. This exploration of the growth of ‘The Beautiful Game’ in America and its emergence in the country’s mainstream culture serves as another testament to his universal sports expertise.”
=Bobby Skafish's great book about his many interviews with rock stars is also chockful of photos. One of them is celebrating a birthday this week. Here's Alex Van Halen (May 8) with Bobby...
=This week in 1976, terrorist Ulrike Meinhof was found hanged in her prison cell. That event was woven into the pages of Back in the DDR. On Thursday, Rick will feature that excerpt on his blog.
=This week in 2022, Andy Masur interviewed Chili Dog MVP co-author John Owens (photo) on his podcast. That podcast is right here if you'd like to hear it.
=The late NFL great Johnny Unitas would have been celebrating a birthday this week (May 7). He gets a full chapter in Randy Merkin's book Behind the Glass.
=Chet Coppock often entertained counter-intuitive positions about the sports heroes of his lifetime. Sonny Liston (born May 8) was one of them. Liston was considered a villain in his day, but Chet always rooted for him. He explains the reasons why in Your Dime My Dance Floor.
*The Balding Handbook
=This week in 1977 was very important in the history of the combover. The Balding Handbook chronicled this momentous event. The book is no longer in print, but this free excerpt lives on.
