The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Come on out to meet 40 Years, 40 Films author Nick Digilio and see Nick's pick, Body Double (directed by Brian DePalma), this Wednesday, November 12, from 7-10pm at Classic Cinemas Lake Theater (1022 Lake Street, Oak Park). Nick will also be signing and selling copies of the book at the show.
=Nick has several other events scheduled in the coming weeks. Keep checking back to the Publishing Portal for details. He'll also be appearing this week on the Minutia Men Celebrity Interview podcast. We will post the link when the interview drops.
=Nick's new book about movies features an introduction written by the late Tony Fitzpatrick. From Tony's introduction, written just two months before his death...
"Even when I don't agree with Nick on films, I am convinced he has done the scrupulous thinking and careful viewing. He takes movies seriously. He takes his audience seriously. He views this calling as a responsibility. We very often disagree wildly, but I always want to know why he thinks what he thinks. After I read or hear his thoughts about any movie, I come away smarter. He is cogent, thoughtful, and his love of films evinces an immense generosity of spirit. I am lucky to have him as a friend and so are you. Even if he's still wrong about Joker. Bless Nick Digilio. He's as good as it gets."'
=Ken Smoller is coming back into town and he's bringing a box of his award winning book Last Comiskey along with him. Come out, buy one, and get it autographed! He'll be at Kaiser Tiger (1415 W. Randolph in Chicago) a week from tonight (November 17th), from 6-8pm. Put it on your calendar now.
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=Last week we mentioned that Jeff Reiter would be appearing on one of the biggest bird podcasts in America. Here's the link. He's on the Talkin Birds show for about eight minutes, starting at the ten minute mark. It's a great segment. Can you go wrong with a podcast that has tags listed for brown jay, blue jay, green jay, hooded warbler, bird baths, great gray owl, and worm-eating warbler? No. No you can't.
=Your chance to meet Jeff is coming up. He'll be at Faith Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn on Sunday November 23rd. Copies of the book The Best of Words on Birds are available at the church office there, but he will be signing and selling them at the forum he is hosting that day entitled Consider the Birds of the Air.
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=Another Eckhartz Press cover boy. Arriving in mailboxes this week...
=Bob Conlon will be signing books and making a presentation at this year's IBAM (Irish Books and Music), November 22 and 23 at the Irish American Heritage center (4626 N Knox Ave). Get your tickets for that fun event here.
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=Have you seen the "50 Years of the Loop" exhibit at the Museum of Broadcasting yet? It's been getting rave reviews. Curated by The Loop Files author Rick Kaempfer.
=This week in 2023 (November 13), Rick Kaempfer was making the rounds promoting his book The Loop Files. One of his first stops was the WGN-Radio morning show. On this particular day, it was hosted by fellow Looper, Wendy Snyder. You can listen to that here.
=One of the people featured in the book, Terry Bell, is celebrating a birthday this week (November 10). Happy birthday Terry! (With husband, and fellow Looper, John Bell)
=Author Dan McNeil has temporarily relocated to Arizona, but he will be returning to Chicagoland for the Bears-Packers game on December 7th. He and a few former Bears greats are looking for a bar in the area to allow him to have an event there that day. If you have such a venue, please contact Eckhartz Press publisher Rick Kaempfer (rick@eckhartzpress.com)
=One of our best writers, Lee Kingsmill, is still writing constantly, even if he isn't tackling another book project at the moment. Currently Lee's blog (Me Now), has a review of Lyric Opera’s pairing of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci. You read that right. We are perfectly capable of classing up the joint around here. As far as you know, we're all wearing tuxedos right now in the Eckhartz Press offices.
=Lee's Eckhartz Press book Safe Inside was an honorable mention winner as the CWA Book of the Year when it came out. It's a dazzling book about 1940s Chicago, and a love letter to the movie palaces of that time.
=This week in 2022 (November 15), Eckhartz Press released Leaving Glory for Greatness by Lou Macaluso, a biography of football star turned civil rights hero LaMarr Thomas. It became our biggest selling book of the year, and is now taught in school at LaMarr Thomas' alma mater Thornton Township High School. When the book came out we did a Q&A with the author, Lou Macaluso.
=This week in 2018 (November 11), Eckhartz Press released Death of the Angels by long-time television reporter/producer Alex Burkholder. It was about the tragic 1958 fire at the Our Lady of the Angels school. We interviewed Alex about it the week of the book's release. Unfortunately Alex passed away last year.
=This week in 2017 (November 11), the Eckhartz Press brass flew down to Atlanta Georgia to support author Mark Gelinas, who was marching in the Purple Stride march to raise money for pancreatic cancer research. Mark gave a speech that day, and during the speech, revealed to all of us that his prognosis was dire. His doctors gave him a year.
=A few weeks later, Mark passed away. His book is still available at Eckhartz Press. Despite the unhappy outcome, it's an inspiring tale of a man who tackled the ultimate challenge of his life head-on.
=This week in 2016 (November 16), Pat Colander's book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral was named Book of the Year in the non-fiction category by the Chicago Writers Association.
=This week in 2021 (November 16), Grammar Moses author Jim Baumann appeared on WGN Radio talking about his book. You can still listen to that interview here.
=One of the many rock stars featured in Bobby Skafish's book of rock and roll interviews is the great guitarist Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). This photo of Bobby and Greg was taken in the early 90s at Bill Wyman's restaurant in London. Greg was born this week in 1947 (November 10). He passed away in 2016.
=This week in 2016, four Green White Soccer greats were inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame. All are featured in our book, Grun Weiss Vor. L-R...Mike Duffy, Adam Kaempf, Stefan Laxgang, and Rudi Mayer.
=This week in 2018 (November 12), we lost one of the all-time greats, Stan Lee. The man who created Spiderman did endorse one of our books. There he is with Life Behind the Camera author Chuck Quinzio.
=This week (November 13) one of the contributors to our book Cubsessions, actor Joe Mantegna, is celebrating a birthday. Joe spilled his Cubs-guts to authors Randy Richardson and Becky Sarwate in Cubsessions. Here he is in his natural environment.
=Former NBA great Jack Sikma actually plays a big role in Chuck Swirsky's life, and is therefore featured in the book Always a Pleasure. Jack is celebrating a birthday this week (November 14)
