The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Jim Slusher's big night just happened to be the coldest night of the year (-10), but it was warm and comfy inside The Book Cellar. Thanks to the Chicago Writers Association for running a wonderful awards ceremony. Congrats to Jim for bringing home the hardware.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=Rick Kaempfer and David Stern will be moderating a virtual discussion about Tony Fitzpatrick's book (The Sun at the End of the Road) on February 6th. It's free, but you need to register here. This is the description of the event....
Tony Fitzpatrick published his essay collection, The Sun at the End of the Road, just weeks before his death. Tony was celebrated as a visual artist, radio personality, boxer, and actor, but too often his accomplishments as a writer were overlooked. He was a fantastic writer--this last book is proof of that. It's a kind of memoir told in a series of small reflective prose pieces. His publisher, Eckhartz Press, expedited the release date, and because of that Tony was able to experience a small bit of the book's success. The founders and owners of Eckhartz, Rick Kaempfer and Dave Stern, will moderate a discussion about The Sun at the End of the Road. Special guests include Thomas Dyja, Ann Filmer, and Dave Hoekstra. Registration is now open.
=The last book Tony Fitzpatrick (above) contributed to other than his own book was Nick Digilio's 40 Years, 40 Films. Tony wrote the introduction to the book just weeks before he passed away.
=On Friday, Nick made a TV appearance on CBS-2 News to promote his book. We'll post the video when we get it.
=Thanks to everyone who came out to see Nick at the Rogers Park branch of Chicago Public Library on Wednesday.
=One of Nick's chosen films from the book, The Lodge, was released on January
25, 2019. It was his choice for best film of the year in 2019. We should mention that Nick's favorite genre of film is horror.
=Thanks so much to Steve and Johnnie at WGN Radio for having Jim Elsener on their show on Saturday night. He was there to talk about his exciting new book Sirens in the Loop, which is about the history of the City News Bureau of Chicago.
=This week in 2011 (February 1), Roger Badesch was one of the people stuck on Lake Shore Drive during a horrible snowstorm. He called into WGN Radio (where he worked) and provided a truly amazing play-by-play of the mayhem until his phone battery died and he had to abandon the car. That inspired this cover photo (taken that day) for his book, which was published by Eckhartz Press in 2020.
=One of the photos in the book (below) was taken this week in 1992 (January 31). The Loop held a Blood Drive and the following Loop jocks showed up to help. (L-R: Terry Gibson, John Fisher, Wendy Snyder, Rick Kaempfer, Stan Lawrence)
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=Another person mentioned prominently in the book, Jack Silver, is celebrating a birthday this week (January 28).
=A promotional video from Doug E. Jones about his novel...
=If you went back in time to Chicago on February 1, 1886, The Red Light district was known as Little Cheyenne. That part of town is featured in a truly memorable chapter in Robert Conlon's novel, Celtic Knot. Click on the photo to see the Cheyenne District Brothel Map (1870-1905); Creator Unknown; Permissions to use granted by Digital Research Library of Illinois History; Public Domain.
To the Men I've Loved (God Help Them)
=Congrats to Eckhartz Press author Pat Motto for her mention in the Illinois Alumni Magazine...
"Patricia A. Motto, ’69 LAS, MA ’72 LAS, published To the Men I’ve Loved (God Help Them) (Eckhartz Press, 2024). The memoir traces Motto’s infatuation with a boy in kindergarten through to her dalliance with a professional baseball player and beyond."
COMING SOON TO ECKHARTZ PRESS: Bubble Boy
=It's a hilarious memoir by Robert Forrest Williams. More information coming in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we have a cover.
Additional upcoming Eckhartz Press author events. Mark your calenders...
=Nick Digilio (40 Years, 40 Films) is hosting "Nick's Pix" at Lake Theater in Oak Park on February 11th at 7pm. This month's pick is the film Crash.
=David Stern will be appearing at KinoWerks (5645 N. Ravenswood in Chicago) on February 14th. He'll have a table selling an assortment of Eckhartz Press books at their Arts Event that day.
=Jeff Reiter (The Best of Words on Birds) will be appearing at the great birder event, Gull Frolic in Lake County, on February 15.
=Mark Wukas (The Kiss of Night) will be appearing at Welcome to the Show at the Getaway (4530 N. Lincoln Avenue) on February 16.
=Vicki Atkinson (Surviving Sue) will be appearing at Wauconda Library (11am-12:30pm) on February 20. Vicki's debut novel is coming out later this year on Eckhartz Press.
=Nick Digilio (40 Years, 40 Films) is hosting "Nick's Pix" at Lake Theater in Oak Park on March 11th at 7pm. Nick's pick for March is the film Zero Dark Thirty.
=Lauren LoGiudice (Inside Melania) brings her Misfit Variety show to the Annoyance March 13. Show's at 9.
=Robert Conlon (Celtic Knot) will be appearing at the G-man (on Clark in Chicago) on March 15.
How about a few free excerpts...
=January 27, 1756, 170 years ago, Mozart was born. Mozart is featured in the Eckhartz Press book, Back in the DDR. Sounds like it's time for a free excerpt from the novel.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=John Landecker's memoir was a Book of the Year finalist in 2013. This week in 2016 (January 29), Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner passed away. John had a great story about his brush with the band, so we offered up that section as a free except. You can read it here.
=The great thing about this book is the timelessness of it. A full five years later (this week in 2018, January 30) John Landecker appeared on WGN radio with Justin Kaufmann to talk about the book. Ironically, after Justin left the station, Landecker was named as the new host of that timeslot. Co-author Rick Kaempfer talked to him about that same book last time he was on the air with him, in the fall of 2023.
=It's true that we decided not to do another update to EveryCubEver this year (waiting until they win the World Series again). But this year we're offering free excerpts from the book surrounding the birthdays of Cubs Hall of Famers. The ultimate Cub, Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks was born on January 31, 1931. Here is his entry in EveryCubEver.
This week in Eckhartz Press history...
=Last year at this time author Ken Smoller was making the rounds. First stop was at WGN-TV. Thanks to everyone there (Larry Potash, Robin Baumgarten, Pat Tomasulo. Paul Konrad, and Mike Toomey) for being gracious hosts as always.
=Dan Evans is celebrating a birthday this week (January 27). The former White Sox executive provided a blurb for Ken Smoller's book...
Last Comiskey is a profound work, professionally and personally stirring memories of a ballpark that was unique in its visuals, scents, quirks, noise, intimacy, and history. We gathered there to have fun and enjoy baseball. I’m grateful to Matt Flesch and Ken Smoller for rekindling such beautiful times.
=This week in 1989 (January 31) Warrant released their album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin Rich. You can guess what happened next. That's right, an in-store appearance at Flip Side. You may recognize this photo from the book...
=This week in 2012 (February 1), We released our second book ever, Down at the Golden Coin by Kim Strickland. It's a fun and quirky novel about meeting the Messiah at a laundromat.
=This week in 2019 (February 1), pre-sales began for Nose Over Toes by Janet Sutherland. It's the harrowing but inspiring tale of Janet's recovery from a brain aneurysm.
=Here's a trivia question for you. Who was the first (and last) news anchor to co-anchor a newscast in Chicago with Oprah Winfrey (celebrating a birthday this week/Jan 29)? That would be Eckhartz Press author Joel Daly, who tells that memorable tale in the pages of The Daly News. Here's the video proof...
Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars
=Bill Paige's 2017 Eckhartz Press book has a ton of great interviews with rock stars, including two born this week in history, Eddie Van Halen (January 26) and Phil Collins (January 30). That's the scribe below...
This week in 2023 (January 30), Chicago lost one of the greatest players to ever wear a Blackhawks uniform, Bobby Hull. Chuck Swirsky features Bobby in his Eckhartz Press book Always a Pleasure.
=This week in 2016 (February 1), Eckhartz Press author Dobie Maxwell debuted his new radio show, The Diabetic Show on WGTD. Just a year later he stopped by Steve Cochran's show on WGN radio to talk about his book Monkey in the Middle.
Safe Inside
=The Living Wills is the first book we ever published, and it remains one of our best selling books largely thanks to the passion of co-author Brendan Sullivan. 14 years after it's release, he is still doing appearances promoting it, including this book club from 2024 below.
Brendan: I had the pleasure of discussing "The Living Wills," the novel I wrote (with Rick Kaempfer) at another book club meeting. We discussed our unique creative writing process, as well as the plot and character development. Wonderful members of the "Let's Get Lit" club in Bolingbrook, IL. You can learn more about the novel (and/or order a copy) at the publisher, Eckhartz Press, And I'm always available to meet with any book club who wants to talk to the author. Always a fun evening. I'm a low maintenance guest. Very proud of "The Living Wills."
=In some ways Brent Petersen is the ultimate Eckhartz Press success story. Eleven years ago he came to us with a foodie novel about truffles. It's not only a wonderful novel, it helped launch a whole career for Brent. He started his own website (Destination Eat Drink) and his own podcast (Destination Eat Drink) and is now one of the foremost foodie experts in the world. For the tenth anniversary of Truffle Hunt last year, Brent used his substack (Destination Eat Drink) to highlight his novel. This piece is called The Food Critic.
Joe Jackson, Plaintiff, vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club, Defendant
