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!
=The co-author of two Eckhartz Press books (Embrace Retirement & Chicago: The Great Retirement Resource), Russ Fahrner, is celebrating a birthday this week (June 8). We'd bet that Russ can be found in a boat somewhere on his birthday. If you read his books, you know that's his passion.
=This is a momentous week in Chili Dog MVP history. It was this week in 1972 (June 4) that Dick Allen was on the bench for the second game of a double header, and was in the clubhouse having a chili-dog, when his manager went looking for him to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth. Allen got dressed, walked up to home plate, and slugged the game winning homer. That's the reason the book is titled the way it is. One of the co-authors, David Fletcher, appeared on this podcast to describe the story.
=On the 50th anniversary of that moment, the White Sox pre-game show talked about it as well...
=We had the launch party a few weeks ago. In case you missed it, author Ken Smoller has posted a bunch of great pictures and written a blog post about the event. Check that out here. Or, if you prefer to watch the video of the panel discussion from that launch party...
=Or, you can listen to this podcast interview...
Happy Anniversary!
=This week in 2013 (June 3), the first novel from author Dan Burns was released via Eckhartz Press. The book was called Recalled to Life. Dan has gone on to write several more books, and has even written and produced a short film, but it all started here at Eckhartz Press.
=Coming soon, mark your calendars...
=This week in 2017 (June 8), Eckhartz Press author Mark Gelinas appeared on Headline News Network to talk about his cancer journey. That story is told in the pages of his book GelStrong.
Joe Jackson Plaintiff v Chicago American Baseball Club
=Last week authors David Fletcher and Jacob Pomrenke appeared on Ed Lynch's podcast to talk about their book, a trial transcript of the Shoeless Joe Jackson trial from 100 years ago.
=This week in 1980 (June 2), this commercial for the Loop debuted. It starred the face of the Loop, the stunning actress/model Lorelei Shark. Lorelei also appears in the book The Loop Files.
=This week in 1986 (June 6), three of the biggest stars in Loop history (Johnny B & Steve & Garry) appeared on stage together at Poplar Creek. The concert was a sell-out. This photo of Brandmeier and Dahl was taken backstage, and is featured in the book.
=One of the people featured in The Loop Files is Mike Veeck who was instrumental in the creation of Disco Demolition. This week ABC-7 spoke to Mike, along with his son Night Train, because they are back in baseball. Watch it here.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 2010 (June 3), the creator of the Trivial Pursuit game, Chris Haney, passed away in Canada. John Landecker was a big star in Canada during the early days of the game, and turned it into a radio masterpiece. He writes about it Records Truly Is My Middle Name, but you can hear an example of that radio feature here.
=Records Truly Is My Middle Name contributor Al Rosen is celebrating a birthday this week (June 7). Al was Landecker's engineer at WLS during his early years in Chicago and tells some incredible stories about the way the Radio Hall of Famer approached his craft. Here's one of them...
I started working with John
that first night, and as he's speaking on the air he looks at me and points to
his headphones, something's not
right.
Now before working at WLS I
had been an engineer board operator at WABC in
So I tried to increase the
level in John's headphones, and then brought the music level down a little so
he could hear himself better. After the
first break he told me it still wasn't right, so in the next stop set I tried
again, lowering the music level even more.
John had this frustrated look on his face and told me the level was
still wrong. I had John's mic going way
into the red on the meter and the music level down around 40 percent so I
didn't see how I could make him any louder.
I will never forget what John
told me next. He said, "No no, I
want the MUSIC louder and my mic brought down!
I want to be INSIDE the record!!"
My mind started reeling. For one thing, No DJ had ever told me to
bring his voice DOWN, and second it DID sound amazing. When
John did an introduction over the intro of a
This week the whole world celebrated International Cheese Day (June 4). What does that have to do with the great Eckhartz Press book Grammar Moses? The book includes the single best cheese joke ever told by humankind. Author Jim Baumann was forced to tell it during this podcast interview.
=Lee Kingsmill's book Safe Inside was an honorable mention winner for the CWA Book of the Year in 2018. This week in 2018, it debuted as an e-book.
"Rick cuts the modern media conglomerates to the quick in his alternately hilarious and disturbing Severance. Some readers will think his moguls and media personalities are exaggerated. I'm here to tell you they're pretty dead-on."
--Roe Conn, WLS Radio
=This week in 2021 (June 7), author Margaret Larkin got her first copy of her debut novel Wicker Park Wishes. Eckhartz Press publisher David Stern was on hand to snap a photo of that moment...
=This week in 2020, author Roger Badesch appeared on WGN Radio with Rick Kogan to discuss his new memoir, The Unplanned Life. This is a photo of Roger with the two Ricks. Eckhartz Press publisher Kaempfer on the left, and the legendary Kogan on the right.
=This week in 2014, Judge Michael Ian Bender appeared on this podcast to discuss the information that would form the basis of his Eckhartz Press book, Protecting Children. It would go on to become a top ten book in it's Amazon category.
=This week in 2023 (June 8), author Rick Kaempfer appeared at a Book Club in Inverness to talk about and promote his coming-of-age novel, Back in the DDR.
Printers Row Lit-Fest
=For years the Printer's Row Litfest was held in June (It's now in September). One year (June 6, 2015), three Eckhartz Press authors were the headliners (L-R: Rick Kaempfer, Joel Daly, John Records Landecker)
The Hidden Shamrock
=This week in 2012 was the first-ever multiple author appearance by Eckhartz Press authors. At the time, there were only three books available via Eckhartz Press. The four authors in this photo (along with moderator Mary Beth Horner) appeared on stage in Lincoln Park at the Hidden Shamrock. Left to right: Horner, Brendan Sullivan, Rick Kaempfer, Kim Strickland, Randy Richardson.) The three books available at Eckhartz Press at that time were The Living Wills, Down at the Golden Coin, and Cheeseland. All three are still available on our website.
