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!
=Two Eckhartz Press authors are celebrating birthdays today. Bob Shannon (June 23) wrote the book Turn it Up for us in 2017. Roger Badesch (June 24) contributed The Unplanned Life in 2020. Happy birthday to both!
=Ken Smoller is coming back to town this coming weekend. He will be at Blue Island Brewing on June 29 selling and signing his book from 2-4pm, and then he'll be at the Windy City Thunderbolts game that same night at 6:05.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 2017, Eckhartz Press author John Records Landecker was named to the National Radio Hall of Fame. That led to the release of an updated version of his book, Records Truly Is My Middle Name.
=This week in 2014, Bruce Bohrer held the book launch party for this book Best Seat in the House at Tavern 60 in Mundelein. Here are a few photos from that memorable day.
A new article about Surviving Sue and Writing for Wellness is out --featured in Happiness Between Tails by da-AL -- Writing/Tales + Tails + Culture + Compassion. Read more about that here, and congrats to Vicki Atkinson for the additional exposure.
=This week in 2019, author Rick Kaempfer appeared on Garry Meier's show on WLS to promote the book (June 24) and on-stage at the play about the Cubs, Miracle (June 27). Rick was asked to lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
=This week in 1984 (June 23), one of the most famous games in Wrigley Field history occurred. The Ryne Sandberg game. Rick was there and told the story in this Just One Bad Century video...
=Bob Vorwald is a WGN-TV legend for his many years as the producer of WGN Sports. Bob is celebrating a birthday this week (June 23). He's a big fan of Ryan Trembath's book Signature Shoes. Here's what he said about it...
“A loose mental inventory has me concluding I’ve owned around 200 pairs of shoes in my life. None will ever stand up to the 1979 white Adidas Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hi-tops I had for my last year of high school basketball. I played better (there was nowhere to go but up) knowing that I looked better. Those shoes were sweet and I thank Ryan for this fun project which sparked this memory.”
=Two big rock stars are celebrating birthdays this week, which means of course, that it's another good time to mention Bobby Skafish's great rock and roll interview book We Have Company. The Clash's Mick Jones (June 26) and indie-rocker Chris Isaak (June 26) both rate their own chapters in Bobby's great book. Both were interviewed by Bobby during his days at WXRT.
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=Rocker Mick Fleetwood also has a birthday this week (June 24). Yes, he's in Bobby's book, but he's also featured in a long interview in Bill Paige's book Every I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
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Ike and Me and My Maggie
=Rich King has two books available through Eckhartz Press, and former WGN-TV main anchor Mark Suppelsa (June 25 birthday) plays a role in both of them. He is featured in this photo, the night the Cubs finally won the World Series in 2016, in the book Ike and Me (second from left. Rich is on the far right)
=He also provided this endorsement of Rich's first book My Maggie
I breezed through the pages not only engrossed in the phoenix of Rich’s ‘second life’ with his new bride, but thoroughly enjoyed traversing with him through his memorable career. A truly good man who thankfully for all us chose to tell another good story about his remarkable life.
=One of the biggest fans of the Eckhartz Press book Mob Adjacent is former Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, who is celebrating a birthday this week (June 25). Here's what he had to say about the book...
“I love this book. A fascinating account. You’ve got to read this book before the movie.”
=The book Cubsessions is a collection of celebrity Chicago Cubs fans telling their personal stories about loving the team, and what the World Series victory meant to them. One of the stars featured in the book is former Parks & Recreation star Nick Offerman. He's celebrating a birthday this week (June 26)
=Who would have thought that this book would have a resurgence now that Donald Trump is running for president again? Well, one big fan, Joe Conklin (WIP Radio/Philadelphia) had a pretty good idea. He's celebrating a birthday this week as well (June 26). Here's what he had to say about the book...
“Clever and hilarious.”
=For more than twenty years Randy Merkin was a sports radio producer. In that role he met a Who's Who of sports icons, including this week's birthday boy John Elway (June 28). Randy's John Elway story rates an entire chapter in the book.
=In recent months and years several of the greats mentioned by Chuck Swirsky in his book Always a Pleasure have passed away. One of the first was his broadcasting colleague Craig Sager. His story lives on in the pages of Chuck's book.
=This week in 2021 (June 24), Paul Banks appeared on WGN Radio to talk about his book Transatlantic Passage. The book is about the popularity of the English Premier League in America. You can still listen to that interview here
