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!
New Book Release!
=We have another brand new book available for pre-order beginning today. I Bear Witness by Dan McNeil. Almost 40 years have passed since the Super Bears shuffled into American consciousness and hoisted the trophy. Why? From Ditka to Eberflus, Walter to Caleb, I Bear Witness is your locker room pass to four decades of triumph, travail and tragedy. Through the eyes of insider Dan McNeil, a Chicago sports radio titan, this tells all on Team McCaskey's devolution to the NFL's most dysfunctional franchise. I Bear Witness is available for pre-order now!
=This week in 2023 (November 1), the Illinois Entertainer published a teaser about our big Christmas book, The Loop Files.
=Bruce Wolf had author Rick Kaempfer on his podcast to talk about the book (October 28), and the industry trade publication Morning Mouth also wrote a piece about The Loop Files (October 31)
=Exactly four years earlier, John was on Chicago Tonight with Phil Ponce talking about his book on WTTW.
Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club
=This week in 2023 (October 31), Dr. David Fletcher appeared on the podcast Byers & Company to talk about his new book about the Shoeless Joe trial.
=This week (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.
=This week in 2017 (October 28), Safe Inside author Lee Kingsmill appeared a book club in Northwest Indiana to read and promote his book.
=This week in 2022 (November 2), Treatment Magazine featured a nice article about Will Wagner's book Talking Bout My Generation. You can read it here.
=This week in 2019, Rick Kaempfer appeared on WGN Radio with Andrea Darlas and CBS-2's Brad Edwards to talk about his book EveryCubEver.
=A few weekends ago 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.
=The book Chili Dog MVP is about the 1972 White Sox, and it does feature everyone who played for the team that year including this week's (October 31) birthday boy Ed Spiezio. Ed's son Scott later played in the big leagues too.
=Two of the famous Chicagoans who shared their Cubs love in the book Cubsessions by Becky Sarwate and Randy Richardson are celebrating birthdays this week. Happy birthday to former Chicagoan (and star of Bleacher Bums) Dennis Franz (October 28), and happy birthday to the man who has personally met seemingly every person to ever step foot in Chicago, Ronnie Woo Woo Vickers (October 31). Ronnie even came out to a few of the Cubsessions book signings...
=One of the enthusiastic supporters of Brent Petersen's foodie novel Truffle Hunt is Vesna Plakinis. Vesna's birthday is this week (October 29). Here's what she had to say about Brent's novel...
“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!
=Yes, most of the people featured in Randy Merkin's book about Sports Radio are sports heroes. There are however, a few exceptions who rate their own chapter in the book. One of them, Henry Winkler, is celebrating a birthday this week (October 30). In the photo, L-R, John Jurkovic, Henry, Randy, and Carmen DeFalco.
November 1, 2004, Bill Zwecker interviewed Rick Kaempfer and John Swany Swanson in the Chicago Sun Times. You can still read that interview 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.
