The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
It's going to be a very busy fall season for Eckhartz Press. We have some really big books coming...
Maria the Pappas
=Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas is the newest Eckhartz Press author. This book makes its debut at Printer's Row Lit Fest on Saturday, September 12. Maria will be doing a talk at 1pm on the North Stage (South Dearborn Street just south of Ida B. Wells), with a signing immediately following the talk. After that, it will also be available at Eckhartz Press...
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Cul-de-sacs
=Jodi Hirsch Blackman's book, Cul-de-sacs, will be available for pre-order beginning next week. Here's what the front cover looks like...
=Here's a little more information about Joni, from the back cover of the book...
Joni Hirsch Blackman can’t
remember not writing — she was the high school yearbook editor, a college
newspaper reporter, a lifestyles reporter for a small daily paper in Texas. A
stint at Denver’s Associated Press bureau preceded 5 years as a general assignment
and city hall reporter for The Denver Post. A move to Seattle created
opportunities to work for several national magazines and to begin to write a
few columns. A goodbye column about her Seattle cul-de-sac sparked a desire to
write more like those.
Settling in Naperville a few years later, Joni noticed her local newspaper lacked the perspective of many newcomers to town. She sent an unpublished column she’d written to the new managing editor and a new career began — Cul-de-sacs, named after what she’d left behind & where she landed.
Joni also has written a
subsequent recurring column about the history of many downtown Naperville
building (Building Memories) and wrote the Look to the Western Sky column for
West Suburban Living magazine for many years. She is also the author of Downtown Naperville (Arcadia
Books) and This Used To Be Chicago (Reedy
Press.) In 2028, her debut picture book will be released from Chronicle
Books.
Feature Creature
=Frank Mathie's memoir about his incredible journey as a television reporter in Chicago is nearing publication. It will be out this Christmas season. Frank was working on some last minute edits with Eckhartz Press publisher Rick Kaempfer the other day. Almost there!
The CEO's Symphony
=One last teaser: A memoir from former CSO CEO Henry Fogel is also on the way. It won't be long before you get a chance to pre-order this classic...
There are at least two more Eckhartz Press books that will be out before the end of the year. More information about those books in the coming weeks.
The rest of the books below are available now!
=We're expecting a full house tonight
at Max & Benny’s for Richard Reeder. He'll be talking about his brand new novel, Sarasota. The event is at 7pm. Max & Benny's is located at 461 Waukegan Road in Northbrook.
=If you missed it last week, Richard's appearance at Cliff Dwellers was a home run. Here's the video of Bill Bowe's interview of Mr. Reeder. Some photos below...
=Your chance to meet Sirens in the Loop co-author Jim Elsener is coming this week (September 2) in Richland, Michigan. He'll be appearing at the Richland Public Library (8951 Park Street) from 5-7pm, telling famous stories from City News Bureau history. For instance...
=This week in 1961 (September 1), a TWA airliner crashed during takeoff at Midway Airport, killing all 78 on board. City News Bureau was first on the scene reporting the news.
=City News Bureau alum, Shamus Toomey, is celebrating a birthday this week (September 4). He tells his own City News story in the book. Shamus is the publisher and co-founder of Block Club Chicago.
=Sirens in the Loop is available as an e-book now too.
=Chili Dog MVP co-author John Owens was featured in last September's Illinois Entertainer. You can read that interview here.
=The article is mainly about the film he was producing at the time, My Father, Dick Allen. It's a film version of Chili Dog MVP with additional tales, including a particularly heartbreaking story about the way Allen was treated as the first African-American player in Little Rock, Arkansas.
=This great article about the author of Celtic Knot came out on Friday in Authority magazine. The title of the piece is: Robert Conlon on the 5 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Author.
=Thanks to everyone who came out to see Bob at the Irish Heritage Center.
=Two more appearances next week for Robert Conlon. He'll be at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square (4736 N. Lincoln Avenue) at 6:30pm on Wednesday (September 9), and Printers Row Litfest on Saturday, September 12th from 10am-12:30pm.
=This 150th anniversary of the Cubs is getting a lot of hype this week...
=Not named to the 150th team? A Cub who was born this week (September 2) in 1850. Albert Spalding is a Hall of Famer. Here's his writeup in EveryCubEver...
Albert Spalding 1850–1915 (White Stockings player 1876-1877, owner 1878-1891)
Spalding was already a four-time champion in Boston before he came to Chicago and convinced a few of his teammates to help stock the first National League team in Chicago. It was the beginning of a dynasty in Chicago. In Spalding’s first year with the White Stockings the pitcher won 47 games (including the first ever Cubs win in the National League, a 4-0 shutout versus Louisville). But though Spalding was a great player, he was always a little ahead of his time. For instance, while he was still playing, he became the first “sissy” who insisted on wearing a glove. And he did it because he wanted to sell them at his sporting goods store. It worked. His business mind eventually took over, and he bought the team. There was simply more money to be made in ownership than in playing the game.
Spalding came up with several innovations (other than the glove), including spring training (in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1886) and night baseball (which didn’t catch on in 1883). Al also created the world’s first league-wide salary cap, an idea that lives on today in many other sports, but ironically, not in baseball. Spalding is a Hall of Famer and a visionary, but he was not a popular man because of the horrible way he treated his players. During a barnstorming world tour, one of his best players, Ed Williamson, was hurt in London. Spalding not only left him there, but he also refused to pay for his medical bills or his return passage to America.
After the 1886 season, a season in which they lost the 19th century version of the World Series (an exhibition), Spalding decided that he had identified the problem. Spalding believed that alcohol was evil and felt that his team simply had too many drunks. The Cubs certainly did have their share of drunks, and none was more obvious than their biggest star King Kelly. Kelly was known to show up drunk, drink during the game, and then get drunker still after the game. So, to clean up the team, King Kelly was one of the first players Spalding jettisoned. Kelly was sold to Boston for an unheard-of sum of money…$10,000. But Spalding was just getting started. Next, he got rid of the rest of the outfield. George Gore, a perennial .300 hitter, was traded to New York. Abner Dalrymple, their leadoff man and left fielder for their many pennant winners, was traded to Pittsburgh. Only one “drunk” remained on the team, a future Hall of Fame pitcher named John Clarkson. He was sent away the following off-season. So how did the team fare after the drunks were moved out and the team was purified? They didn’t sniff the pennant for another nineteen years. It got so bad that the entire team quit to form a new league in 1890. That signaled to Spalding that it might be time to step away from the game, which he did shortly after that.
Historical note: On the last full day of General George Armstrong Custer’s life (1876), Al Spalding was on the mound for a 16-2 Chicago win over New York.
=This week in 2021 (September 2), John Landecker had Rick Kaempfer on his WGN Radio show to talk about the Cubs. At the time, people were saying that year's Cubs team was the worst ever. Rick gave John many more examples of teams that were worse. Far worse. You can listen to it here.
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=This week in 1928 (September
2), St. Bruno’s church in Archer Heights held its first mass. That church is featured prominently in South
Side Memories by Gloria Golec.
I will be
doing a reading and book signing at the Archer Heights Library on October 10th
at 2 p.m. So happy to be doing a reading in the neighborhood of my book. I'm also
part of the Polish American Heritage Month celebration and will be on the
cultural calendar for the library.
=Her book reads like a love letter to her old neighborhood, so it's only fitting she's returning to it. Before she does that, however, Gloria will be appearing at Printer's Row Litfest. Her time slot will be on Saturday September 12th from 12:30-3pm. (Photo: Gloria with Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and Dave)
Surviving Sue and Slivers
=Vicki Atkinson had a big day on Saturday...
=Vicki's next appearance is next Saturday at Printers Row Litfest (10am-12:30pm). She'll also be in the CWA tent.
=Meanwhile, both of her books are still getting great reviews. Nancy Naumann of the Barrington Writer's Workshop had this to say about Slivers...
What are slivers? Where do they come from? Can they be controlled? Can you escape from them? Why do we experience what others can’t? Why can we share unspoken thoughts? These are the questions their young minds want answered. And they won’t give up until they get answers from the secret keepers—their family.
This book is engaging and nail biting. The author paints you into the family portrait. You, the reader, like Jane, Katie and Eric are drawn to seek answers to these questions.
=This was her review of Surviving Sue...
This book engaged me from the first to last page. The narrative reflects no malice or unforgiveness in the author’s heart. A heavy heart? Sadness? Confusion? Yes, but this revealed to me the emotional toll Vicki paid to pen her story. This is a work to encourage those struggling with complex family issues. I’m grateful for Vicki’s courage to share her story.
=Here's another 5-star review from a fellow author. This one is from author Lauren Scott...
Do you crave drama and suspense? Do you love characters that make you feel like you’ve known them forever? Does a hint of the unexplained keep you engrossed? If you answer yes to these questions, then I highly recommend Slivers – a masterfully written novel with an ending that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
40 Years, 40 Films and 40 Years, 40 Horror Films
=The prolific Nick Digilio has three big events coming up in the next few weeks promoting both of his books. Pick your Nick (event).
=He'll be signing and selling 40 Years, 40 Films next Wednesday (September 9) at Classic Cinema's Lake Theater at 7pm. He'll also be screening the legendary Marx Brothers film Duck Soup.
=Then on September 19th, he's doing the launch party for his sequel, 40 Years, 40 Horror Films. It will be held at an all-night Drive-In Horror Film Festival in Sterling, Illinois.
=The inspiring tale of Tom Serritella's sobriety journey is helping people all over Chicagoland. Tom will be at the Printers Row Lit Fest signing and selling his book. Come on out and see him on Sunday September 13 from 10am--Noon. He'll be in the CWA tent.
=He has been very busy lately helming The Daily Herald newspaper, but managing editor Jim
Slusher will get out of the office for a day, Sunday September 13, and appear at the Printers Row Lit Fest (in the
CWA tent) 12-2pm. He'll be signing and selling his Book of the Year offering To Nudge the World.
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=Bob
"Wilbur" Williams will be at the Printers Row Lit Fest (in the CWA tent) too. If you come at 2pm, you can meet both Slusher & Williams. Wilbur will be there from 2-4pm on Sunday. He may or may not be levitating.
=Speaking of libraries, we get a lot of questions about the photo we use at the top of this column every week. It is not a photo of Eckhartz Press headquarters in Chicago. It's another crazy library. This one is in Pesaro, Italy. (Photo by Rick Kaempfer)
=This week (August 31) is Jalen Brunson's birthday. Naturally Randy Merkin's new book about sports radio interviews features a story and photo about the reigning NBA Finals MVP. No big whoop.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=September 1, 1923, is the date of the famous Kanto earthquake in Japan. One of the many journeys of Tony Fitzpatrick’s life led him to the site of the earthquake. Here's a portion of the essay he wrote about it in The Sun at the End of the Road and the artwork that accompanied the essay.
Tsukiji was built after the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 devastated much of Tokyo, including the Nihonbashi market. The new market was built in the Tsukiji district in 1935 and became the world’s largest seafood market. It is a fascinating place; my friends and I went directly from the airport and were treated to a raw tuna breakfast at one of the ten-seater sushi huts, all for about twelve bucks. Around every corner was something fascinating and visceral: the nonstop butchery, on one hand brutal and, on the other, strangely beautiful; the men and women dressing the seafood, as they’ve done every morning for their whole working lives, engenders a virtuosity that is hypnotic to see. I watched a man dress a giant fish—about twice his size—in just four minutes. Seriously. A leviathan, pulled from the depths, carved into steaks, kibbles and bits—skippy, chopchop. We were an odd collection of visitors: a few visual artists and a film director, hanging onto every sight and sound, like children who'd wandered through to the other side of the looking glass. The fish market was at once otherworldly and very much of this world, expressing one great lesson and one sad moral.
The lesson? In the ocean, big fish eat the little fish and then, even bigger fish eat those fish.
The moral? Don't be a fucking guppy.
=Tony's family (his wife and kids) will be at Printers Row Lit Fest on Saturday, September 12th in the CWA tent from 3-6pm. They'll have copies of Tony's book on sale there.
=We've been trying to feature a bird a month from the excellent Best of Words on Birds book here in the publishing portal. This month's choice is the Grey Catbird. (Photo by Ryan Sanderson).
=Author Jeff Reiter's next appearance will be at the Elgin Garden club on September 18th.
=Here's a short audio clip featuring The Kiss of Night author Mark Wukas from his interview at Max and Benny's around this time last year. In this clip, Mark tells interviewer Richard Reeder about his favorite writer, James T. Farrell.
=If you missed it, Windy City Reviews posted an excellent review of Mark's book the same week as this interview. Full review is here. Here's a short excerpt...
This book is not a who-done-it type of mystery novel, nor is it meant for a quick summer beach-read. This is a thoughtful novel that challenges the reader to think about important issues, like whether the ends justify the means, and if so, when. If you enjoy the literary fiction genre, this book is for you.
=This week last year we received confirmation that the Eckhartz Press book, The Flip Side: Where Chicago Rocked, was placed in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives in Cleveland. Congrats to Carl & Larry Rosenbaum, and their co-author Ken Churilla.
=Ten years ago this week (September 2), we released a book by M.L Collins called Out the Door! It was our little book that could. Unknown author, writing about Door County, and doing it with wit and charm. The cover was a grabber, it built a cult following, and sold well. Then, at the end of the year, it was named the Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association.
=This week in 2017, Mitch Michaels and Ken Churilla were all over the media promoting their book about Mitch's life, Doin' the Cruise. August 31st was a particularly busy one. It included a stop at WGN-TV...
One year ago today my book was released: Doin The Cruise: Memories From a Lifetime in Radio & Rock n Roll. I wrote the book for me, for my kids and grand kids so they knew at least some of what I had done with my life, but I also wrote it for all those of you who have been listening throughout years. We’ve spent a great deal of time together and I thought a chronology of the Chicago radio landscape, from my point of view, over the past forty-five plus years might be of some interest. I wanted to say thanks to my publishers Rick Kaempfer and David Stern from Eckhartz Press who did such a great job and a special thanks to Ken Churilla (my co-author) who spent two years listening, recording and writing down my stories. Ken was required to learn a brand new language for this project. He had to learn “Mitch Speaks” and he learned it very well. Forgive me if this sounds like I’m reliving A Day in The Life, because that’s exactly what I’m doing! This day, one year ago was so special. It started with an interview on The Noon News at WGN-TV with Steve Sanders who turned out to be a fan. Big fun! Great guy!! Followed by a book release party later that afternoon, at Lloyd’s of Chicago, attended by old friends and co-workers alike. It was an amazing day! It’s been a whirlwind of a year and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
=The release party for Rich King's book Ike & Me was also one for the ages, not only because of its location (Guaranteed Rate Field), but also because it drew a who's who of Chicago television. One of the luminaries who attended that day was retired WGN-TV news anchor Robert Jordan. He's celebrating a birthday this week (August 31). That's him in the center of the photo flanked on either side by Rich and Ike, and on the corners by Dan Roan and Ryan Baker.
=This week in 2018, Judge Michael Bender sat down for this Q&A to talk about his book Protecting Children: Bettering the World One Child at a Time. His book was actually a top 10 Amazon hit.
=These two books have a few things in common, and one of them is the support of radio personality Johnnie Putman (September 5 birthday). She gave a wonderful endorsement to Roger's book...
“This book’s cover photo was taken on a night we’ll never forget. Trust us, we never had a night like that on the radio before or since and, along with our WGN radio listeners, were praying that Roger would survive. Spoiler alert: He did! In this book Roger shares the details of that night and other adventures, including his time with Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, and first woman mayor, Jane Byrne. “The Unplanned Life” of this man we’re so proud to call a friend was obviously part of a bigger plan. Thankfully, he listened to the universe and went along for the ride. Buckle up, it’s a good one!”
=And then she made an in-person appearance at a Beth Jacobellis signing...
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=Bill Paige's book is one of the few you'll find with a Freddie Mercury interview. Freddie would have been celebrating a birthday this week (September 5).
=We just lost Bob Newhart in 2024, but the famous comedian/Cubs fan did contribute to our book Cubsessions back in 2019 (written by Randy Richardson and Becky Sarwate). Want to know how Bob felt in 2016 after the Cubs won the World Series? He had been a Cubs fan so long, he greeted the 1945 Cubs at the train station when they won the pennant. Bob's Cubs joy is found in the pages of Cubsessions. It would have been his birthday this week (September 5).
=Jeanne Bellezzo grew up in the Chicago area, but she lives in California now. This week in 2016, she came to town to do a launch party for her book at Lone Star Cafe on the Northwest Side of Chicago. It was a great night.
=Ken Smoller was in town this week in 2024, and he was everywhere from Printers Row Lit Fest to libraries in Crestwood, Riverside, Evergreen Park, and Lake Villa. (Ken shown here with Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and David)
=Can you identify the man who gave his name to this signature shoe? It's none other than former tennis star Jimmy Connors. Ryan Trembath writes about Jimmy and this shoe in his Eckhartz Press book about the celebrities who spawned the signature shoe world. Jimmy's birthday is this week (September 2)
=This week in 2018, Richard Reeder appeared on Rick Kogan's WGN Radio show to talk about his book 1001 Train Rides in Chicago.
WGN-TV Morning News
=This week (September 6) marks the 32nd anniversary of the WGN-TV Morning News. Most of the faces have remained the same since the beginning of that time, including Larry Potash, Robin Baumgarten, Paul Konrad, and Pat Tomasulo. The show has also been very gracious to Eckhartz Press over the years, featuring a number of our authors. Here are a few on set: Bobby Skafish, Chuck Swirsky, Rich King, Joel Daly, John Landecker, Robert Conlon, Ken Smoller and Rick Kaempfer.
Windy City Live
=This week in 2021, the show Windy City Live aired for the last time as a regular weekday show on Channel 7 in Chicago. Our authors always enjoyed their times on the show. Here are a few examples...
Read a Book Day
=September 6 is Read a Book Day and we thought we'd take the opportunity to mention a few of the novels we have released over the years. They don't get as much attention as the non-fiction books, but let's face it, who doesn't like to dig in to a little fiction every now and then? Seems like Read a Book Day is the perfect opportunity. Try these books that we haven't yet mentioned in today's column: The Living Wills, Down at the Golden Coin, Safe Inside, Righteous Might, City U, Wicker Park Wishes, Talking Bout My Generation, Belle, Back in the DDR, and Severance.
And finally...
This week in 2014 (September 5) we almost lost four of our authors in a monsoon at Wrigley Field. James Finn Garner (contributor to Write City Review), Donald Evans (An Off-White Christmas), Randy Richardson (Cubsessions, Lost in the Ivy, and Cheeseland) and Rick Kaempfer narrowly escaped with their lives. The Cubs weren't as lucky.
