The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Dan McNeil is still making the rounds promoting his critical darling, I Bear Witness. It has gotten rave reviews in the Daily Herald and mentions on national shows like Colin Cowherd and Pat McAfee. Thanks for everyone who came out to his many appearances in December.
=It's not too late to meet Dan at an appearance. He will be in Morton Grove at AU Sports Memorabilia (6006 Dempster Street) on January 11 from Noon-1:30pm, Blue Island Beer Company (13357 Olde Western Ave.) on January 14th from 5-7pm, and at the Sportscard collectible show in Orland Park (The Orland Park Civic Center) on January 19th.
=Dan will be making the podcast rounds too. He will be on John Siuntres popular podcast Word Bubble, and here's one you might not have had on your scorecard.
Sox On Tap - Dick Allen HOF Reaction w/ Dr. David Fletcher https://t.co/6IiaDIsFkc
— On Tap Sports Net (@OnTapSportsNet) December 29, 2024
=The Daily Herald featured the book this week in 2022.
=One of the other players featured in the book, the late Bart Johnson, was born this week in 1950.
=This week in 2024, Rick Kaempfer appeared on WLS Radio with Pete McMurray and Steve Cochran.
=The Chicago Writes podcast also featured The Loop Files.
=There were some truly great reviews of The Loop Files, and perhaps none better than this one by Christopher Sutter.
=Surviving Sue is a memoir about dealing with an extremely difficult mother, beautifully written by Vicki Atkinson. Occasionally on her blog she shares the other side of the coin, dealing with a wise and thoughtful father. Recommended feel good blog post from Vicki.
=Truffle Hunt is approaching its tenth anniversary and author Brent Petersen is featuring a series of articles on substack explaining the process of how it came to be. Here's the first one: How the International Criminal Tribunal Influenced the Creation of one of my Characters.
=Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) was featured in Illinois Entertainer this month in 2024, talking about his podcast Destination Eat Drink.
=This week in 2018, West Suburban Living reviewed Mitch Michael's book.
=Rod Stewart is celebrating a birthday this week. You may not realize that Doin The Cruise author Mitch Michaels played a key role in Rod's song "Maggie Mae" becoming a big hit. He tells that story in the book. (That's Mitch in the middle of the pic below)
=Bobby Skafish's 2016 Eckhartz Press book We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters is a rock and roll lover's dream. Bobby has met and interviewed them all. Two of them have birthdays this week; the late David Bowie and Dave Matthews. Their stories (and these photos) are in the book. Matthews was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week.
=Randy Merkin's 2021 book Behind the Glass: Stories from a Sports Radio Producer is the sports equivalent of Bobby's book. For instance, three Hall of Famers who were born this week in history, Bruce Sutter, Bart Starr and Dick Enberg, are featured.
=Dobie Maxwell's gripping personal story about a bank robbery was reviewed this week in 2017. Dobie's book remains one of our best sellers.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Records Landecker's book was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2013. When John was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017, we re-released the book with additional stories and photos. Among the new photos...this one of John and his daughter Amy with the richest man in the world (at the time), who happens to be celebrating a birthday this week.
The former Chicago Daily News arts reporter (and Northwestern University professor) Jack Hafferkamp released his novel Sepsis via Eckhartz Press this week in 2017.
The Balding Handbook
=We sold out of the book, but before it went out of print, The Balding Handbook helped countless balding souls. Twelve years ago this week author David Stern was on Mancow's television show talking about it.
In 2022, Eckhartz Press released Chuck Swirsky's memoir Always a Pleasure. It features some great stories about his life as a sportscaster, and some memorable photos as well. Here he is with this week's birthday boy Lou Holtz.
=13 years ago this week, Rick and Brendan discuss the tricky collaboration that led to the first Eckhartz Press book, The Living Wills.
“You’ll love reading about what it’s like to be a soccer (always going to be football to me!) fan from multiple perspectives. Thanks to Paul and this in depth look at the evolution of international soccer in the United States, in some ways negative for the men’s game, and in some ways positive for the women’s game.”