The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
COMING SOON
Our next two books...The 12 Steps and Tales of Fellowship and Sarasota.
The 12 Steps and Tales of Fellowship
This inspiring book will be available for pre-order very soon. You can guess what it's about, but who is this man who wrote the book...
Thomas Serritella knows a thing or two about starting over. A proud Detroit sports fan living in the Chicago suburbs — a situation that requires both thick skin and a great sense of humor — Thomas has been on an incredible journey of recovery for over 14 years. Along the way, he has made lifelong friends, helped countless people in need, and turned his life around a full 180 degrees.
His connection to the fellowship of AA runs deep, and it is that connection, combined with a heartfelt desire to reach those still struggling with alcoholism, that compelled him to write this book. Thomas witnessed firsthand how many people search desperately for a way out — and he wanted to give them something real, something honest, and something that might even make them smile along the way.
Thomas believes that laughter, honesty, and a genuine love for life are just as important to recovery as any step in the process. His warm humor, hard-won wisdom, and deeply personal stories make him not just an author, but a voice for everyone who has ever felt lost and found their way back. When he’s not rooting for Detroit teams in enemy territory, he’s doing his best to enjoy and love every single moment — and inspiring others to do the same.
Sarasota
=How good is Richard Reeder's novel Sarasota (which is available for pre-order next week)? The blurb on the back cover is provided by one of Chicago's most prestigious authors, Stuart Dybek. Here's what he says...
"Richard Reeder in his historical novel, Sarasota, writes with an energy, passion, and immersive sense of place that brings an American era back to life. This is not a novel about nostalgia. There’s a freshness to the account and an “I was there” sense of moral clarity that makes it real. Discrimination against Black professional baseball players in the American South did not end when Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947. Reeder relates the story of some of those who stepped up to the plate and put an end to those lingering Jim Crow practices."
=Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago and I Sailed with Magellan, winner of the PEN/Malamud Award.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name & Always a Pleasure
=Sad week for the authors John Records Landecker (Records Truly Is My Middle Name) and Chuck Swirsky (Always a Pleasure). Both men lost dear friends. Landecker's newman at WJMK, Richard Cantu (second from right in top photo), passed away unexpectedly in Milwaukee. And Swirsky's television counterpart, Bulls TV analyst Stacey King (furthest right in bottom photo), died after a fall in his home. We send our deepest condolences to both authors, and to the families of the dearly departed.
=You have an opportunity this week to see Jeff Reiter in action in the wild. He will be presenting a bird talk at the Elmhurst library (125 S. Prospect Avenue) tomorrow night (June 16) at 7pm.
=Jeff Reiter's latest Words on Birds column came out in the Daily Herald last week. You can read it here. Jeff's comments about the piece...
My latest "Words on Birds" column salutes our state's most prolific birders. Their membership in the "400 Club"--so named for witnessing 400 or more species in Illinois--is a remarkable achievement! The column is based on a story called "Rare Birders" that I wrote for the spring issue of Illinois Audubon magazine. Since that piece, several mega-rarities have visited the Chicago region, photos of which are included in the newspaper. Many thanks to Stephen Hurst (Lazuli Bunting, photo below), Marky Mutchler (Bewick's Wren) and Matt Zuro of Zurotography (Roseate Tern) for sharing their excellent images. Rare bird photos by Jackie Lentz Bowman (Ivory Gull) and Leroy Harrison (Lewis's Woodpecker) also appear. Thank you all!
=You also have a chance to see Vicki Atkinson this week. She will be reciting poetry she has written at an event called Poetry in the Park on Wednesday night (June 17) at the Barrington White House. The event is at 6:30pm. It's free. Click here to register. Naturally she will be selling and signing copies of her two Eckhartz Press books, Slivers and Surviving Sue.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=Tony Fitzpatrick would have been beyond honored by what happened last week at Guaranteed Rate Field. His beloved Chicago White Sox paid tribute to him...
=Tony appears to be more popular than ever. What a headline in Block Club Chicago last week: Tony Fitzpatrick's Art Fetched More Than Expected--Even More Than One's Labeled Picasso. Here's the lead paragraph...
An auction featuring dozens of works by the late Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick saw his major pieces sell for far more than their estimated value — including some pieces that went for three or four times more than expected.
=This week in history (June 20, 1974), the great film Chinatown was released. Tony Fitzpatrick pays tribute to that classic in his book The Sun at the End of the Road. Here's a little taste...
The scenes between Huston and Nicholson are a master class in mutual contempt. Huston didn't care for Nicholson, as he was banging Huston’s daughter, the remarkable Angelica Huston. Only upon seeing the finished film does Huston grudgingly admit Nicholson's performance is, indeed, a gem of American film acting. Every element of this film works: Robert Towne’s complex, multilayered script and storytelling; Polanski's noir, rendered in blinding daylight; the California landscape, a mixture of bounty and privation, brought by drought; and letter-perfect performances from top to bottom—Faye Dunaway has never been more luminous or unhinged, even as Joan Crawford; Huston in the nadir of his career, reminding us that, like Sydney Pollack, he is every bit as good in front of the camera as behind it; Polanski, himself, as the nasty little man with the switchblade. It is one of those American stories, writ large in moral shades of gray and California sunlight, all brilliantly captured by cinematographer John A. Alonzo. Never has an American film been so beautifully rendered—an absolute masterpiece.
=It inspired this accompanying piece of art. Tony called it "Portrait of J.J. Gittes"
=The article we mentioned last week is now available on-line. It's really an incredible write up in NewCity by Mary Wisniewski. Mary is such a good writer. She does more than review Sirens in the Loop, she includes some memorable stories from her own time at City News Bureau, and really makes the old news shop come to life. Highly recommended.
=Some photos from Randy Merkin's appearance this past weekend in Glenview. Thanks to everyone who came out...
=Eckhartz Press author (and Silver Circle television legend) Tom Weinberg (Chasing the Lost City) is celebrating a birthday this week (June 17). Tom's book came out during the holiday season of 2017. It's the fascinating true story of his quest to find the ruins of a lost city in Honduras. Great story, great pictures. Happy birthday Tom!
=The World Cup is currently the top draw in the entire world, and it's taking place right here in America (plus Mexico & Canada). We have a book in the Eckhartz Press library that is a perfect primer for soccer fans. It's about how this US National team developed in Europe, and how the European game has made its way over to America, first with exhibition games, and now with the Cup. Paul Banks wrote it. It's called Transatlantic Passage.
=One of the people featured in that book is the former coach of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp. He's celebrating a birthday this week (June 16)
=Most people don't even realize that Chuck Taylor, the man they named the shoes after, was a real life basketball star. His shoe remains perhaps the most famous Signature Shoe, and gets the appropriate attention from author Ryan Trembath in his book about the celebrity shoe craze. Taylor was born this week in 1901 (June 21).
Ken Korber
=Great piece in Medical Daily this week about Ken Korber and children's books.
=Two of Ken's books were released this week in history. June 20, 2020 was the release date for Grace's Musical Haiku Adventures, and June 21 was the day the second book of his four seasons of musical tales was released, Grace and the Musical Willow Tree, A Summer Adventure. That book is also still available at Eckhartz Press
=If you missed Robert Conlon on Irishradio this weekend, you missed some great Irish story-telling. Thanks so much to Siobhann O'Connor for inviting him on the show.
=This picture below was taken two years ago, the day of Ken Smoller's Last Comiskey book launch party at the Chicago History Museum. The same group of people in the photo (minus Ken) will be returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak, on June 25th for the debut of the Dick Allen movie (My Father, Dick Allen) at the same museum. (Photo: EP Publisher Rick Kaempfer, Ken Smoller/author of Last Comiskey/contributor to the film, EP Publisher David Stern, Dr. David Fletcher/co-author of Chili Dog MVP and co-writer and executive producer of the film). Both Chili Dog MVP and Last Comiskey will be available there. This must be the year of the White Sox--because the event is completely sold out.
=On the other hand, looks like Rick picked a good year NOT to do a revised edition of EveryCubEver. Instead, he is featuring the entries of Cubs Hall of Famers on their birthdays. There are two this week, June 15, 1938 is Billy Williams birthday. June 18, 1939 is Lou Brock's. Two free excerpts from the book...
Billy Williams 1938-- (Cubs 1959-1974)
Billy Williams got his nickname (“Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler”) because of his nearly perfect swing and his hometown: Whistler, Alabama. He played for the Cubs from 1959-1974 and is simply one of the greatest players to ever wear a Cubs uniform. Sweet Swingin’ Billy was a six-time All-Star (and hit a homer in the ’64 game), a batting champion, was named the MLB player of the year, finished second in the MVP balloting in two different years, hit more than 400 career home runs, led the Cubs in homers for the entire decade of the 1970s (143), and was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1987. Ernie Banks may have been Mr. Cub, but during the years he shared the field with Billy Williams, he was often the second best player on the team. Billy Williams manned left field for the Cubs for twelve years (other than a few years in the mid- 60s when they switched him over to right). Near the end of the 1973 season, however, manager Whitey Lockman had the brilliant idea of moving the life-long outfielder to first base. After setting a NL record for most consecutive games played (1117), and establishing a reputation as an iron man outfielder, it only took a few games at first base for Billy to get spiked. He missed twice as many games in 1974 as he missed the previous twelve seasons combined. He finished his career with the Oakland A’s, where Billy finally got a chance to play in the postseason.
Historical note: On the day the hotline was installed between the Kremlin and the White House (1963), Billy hit two homers against his former teammate Dick Drott in a 5-0 win over Houston in Wrigley Field.
Lou Brock 1939-2020 (Cubs 1961-1964)
It’s not that the Cubs didn’t realize they had a good potential player on their hands. It’s just that they didn’t know how to develop him. Brock came up through the Cubs system during their ill-fated College of Coaches era. When they traded him in 1964 for a former 20-game winner, there wasn’t much of an uproar in Chicago, but the Cubs players knew their team was making a big mistake. Lou Brock became a six-time All-Star for the Cardinals, led the league in runs scored (twice), doubles, triples, and stolen bases (eight times). He hit over .300 eight times. He retired as the all-time career leader in stolen bases. He had more than 3000 hits—and his 3000th hit came against the Cubs in St. Louis in 1979. Most importantly, he retired as a two-time World Series champion. In his first year of eligibility, Lou Brock was elected into baseball’s Hall of Fame. His #20 is one of only four numbers retired by the Cardinals (Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Dizzy Dean).
Historical Note: On the day Jack Nicholas won his first major golf tournament (the 1962 US Open), Lou Brock became one of only three players (and the only Cub) in Polo Grounds history to hit a homer into the centerfield bleachers. The other two were Babe Ruth and Joe Adcock.
=This week in history (June 20, 1980), the Chicago classic, The Blue Brothers was released. Take Me Back to Chicago author Doug E. Jones pays homage to the movie by including this classic clip...
Ann Wilson
=The lead singer of Heart (June 18 birthday) is featured in three different Eckhartz Press books. John Landecker has a great story about her in Records Truly Is My Middle Name. Bobby Skafish devotes an entire chapter to her in his interview book We Have Company, and can you guess which book about a radio station also features the lovely Ms. Wilson?
=That's the one. Johnny B tells a great story about Ann Wilson pranking him in the pages of The Loop Files.
= Another memorable story in The Loop Files comes from legendary disc jockey Bob Stroud. He tells the tale of the day he met his idol, Paul McCartney. There's even a photo from that day. Paul turns 84 years old this week (June 18). His new album, by the way, just hit #1 on the UK charts. Rock on, Sir Paul.
To the Men I've Loved (God Help Them!)
=Two years ago this week, we released To the Men I've Loved, by Patricia Motto. She wrote her love-life memoir with great humor and skill. This is the book synopsis...
The course of true love may never run smooth, but seldom has it hit quite as many bumps, potholes and land mines as it does in Patricia Motto’s journey to find the meaning of that all important four letter word. Love. Beginning with the beautiful eyes of a kindergarten boy at nap time and continuing to the man for whom she did not get off the plane, there are stops along the way for, among others, a first kiss boyfriend, the American League’s Most Valuable Player and a twice convicted armed robber. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, the trip is never dull.
=This week in 1995, Frankfurt American Junior High School officially closed (June 16) in Germany. That school is featured in the pages of Rick Kaempfer's novel Back in the DDR.
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=Former ABC-7 news reporter Andy Shaw is celebrating a birthday this week (June 18). Andy is a big fan of the Eckhartz Press novel $everance. Here's what he said about it when it originally came out in 2007...
“Severance is a black comedy that would be funnier if its darkness weren’t so true. And it crackles with the insights and cynicism that made Network and Broadcast News the seminal cinematic treatments of today’s dumbed-down news business. Move over Christopher Buckley—-Rick Kaempfer is in town!”
The Balding Handbook
=Talk about an exciting day. Twelve years ago (June 18, 2014) Balding Handbook author David Stern got the unofficial endorsement of his book from fellow famous Bald, Mr. Peanut.
Everything I Know I Learned From Rock Stars
=Bill Paige interviewed hundreds of rock stars during his Illinois Entertainer days, and one of them now plays lead guitar in Bruce Springsteen's band. This week's birthday boy (June 21) Nils Lofgren is featured in Paige's excellent book.
=Author Mark Leepson is celebrating a birthday this week as well (June 20). Leepson is a Vietnam veteran, so Eckhartz Press authors Brendan Sullivan and Rick Kaempfer sent their novel The Living Wills to him to see what he thought of it. The Living Wills features a main character who is a Vietnam Vet. Here's what he said...
You have to give credit to Rick Kaempfer and Brendan Sullivan, the two authors of “The Living Wills”. The authors have come up with a cast of realistic, non-sensationalized Vietnam veterans living out their lives in the early 21st century–no Nam vet stereotypes here. That in itself is worth the price of admission.
Recalled to Life
=This week in 2013, Dan Burns held a book release party for his debut novel, Recalled to Life. The party was held at a fancy boutique in LaGrange, Illinois.
