The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
The Kiss of Night
In anticipation of our upcoming release, The Kiss of Night by Mark Wukas, we asked some friends for their opinion of Mark’s novel. Their responses confirm we made the right choice in deciding to publish it. Here’s some advance praise.
"Here is a book that deserves a place among your favorite Chicago novels. Written with a reporter’s sharp eye and attention to detail and colorful characters, The Kiss of Night brings the city alive in all its good/evil struggles, giving you a story that is vivid and unforgettable."
--Rick Kogan
Chicago Tribune
--Ken
Paulson
Editor-in-Chief (emeritus)
USA Today
--Kirkus
Reviews
--Robert N.
Georgalas
Author of Deep Focus, Nothing Lost, All That Remains, and Unscheduled Stops
--Wendi Williams
Invest To Elect Illinois
=Next week it will go on pre-sale at Eckhartz Press.
=Dan McNeil is still making the rounds. He has two upcoming appearances this weekend on Super Bowl Sunday (including Doc's in Dyer from 1-3pm). In March, he'll begin his library tour. He also appeared on the Chicago Bears Podcast...
=One of the most unique podcasts out there is Car Con Carne, where host James VanOsdol interviews his guests in his car. This week he has two Eckhartz Press people on with him, Ken Churilla and Jeff "Mr. Cheap" Schwartz, talking about our great book, The Flip Side.
Belle & Leaving Glory for Greatness
=February is Black History Month and Eckhartz Press proudly has a fiction and non-fiction reading choice for you to help celebrate it. Judy Ann Jamerson's haunting novel Belle is the heartbreaking story of a mother struggling with the reality of the unimaginable death of her daughter. Lou Macaluso's biography of football star-turned-civil rights hero LaMarr Thomas (Leaving Glory for Greatness) is a such an inspirational work, it is being taught at his alma mater (Thornton).
Staying Alive is a Lot of Work
=Pat Camalliere's book is the focus of the latest episode of the Chicago Writes podcast hosted by Bill Turck. Pat does a great job explaining the struggles she endured, and the incredible memoir it inspired. They also go into great depth about the Chicago suburb of Lemont and why it is so important to her. Highly recommended.
RADIO HALL OF FAME
=From Feb. 1 to April 1 you may submit suggestions for possible honorees for consideration by the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee at radiohalloffame.com. The ceremony is in Chicago this year. We have a few suggestions for you from our stable of authors. John Records Landecker is already in there, but what about...
Mitch Michaels (Doin the Cruise)
Bobby Skafish (We Have Company)
Chet Coppock (Your Dime My Dance Floor)
Chuck Swirsky (Always a Pleasure)
=Steve & Garry are already in there, and so is Jonathon Brandmeier, but how about these all-time greats who contributed to our book The Loop Files...
Bob Stroud
Kevin Matthews
=Or these all-time greats who contributed to Landecker's book Records Truly Is My Middle Name...
Fred Winston
Tommy Edwards
Bob Sirott
=Help us remind the world that Chicago is the epicenter of all-time great radio.
=Author Rick Kaempfer is hard at work writing the latest edition of EveryCubEver. It's scheduled to be released around Opening Day. In the meantime, follow along on his Facebook page JustOneBadCentury. Every single day he has a piece about a Cub. Here's an example from last Thursday...
=In 2016, comedian Dobie Maxwell wrote one our best selling books, the incredibly memorable Monkey in the Middle. That book still sells even though it came out in 2016. Dobie is currently co-hosting a podcast called Put Your Funny Where Your Mouth Is. Episode 19 posted this week.
=The official 10th anniversary of the book will be next Friday (Feb 14), but Truffle Hunt author Brent Petersen has been writing excellent pieces at his DestinationEatDrink substack about the inspiration that led to this novel. Here's the ultimate piece about that: How Did This All Get Started?
Happy Anniversary!
This week in 2014 (February 8), Joel Daly got his first copy of his Eckhartz Press book (The Daly News). On this day in 2022 (February 6), Eric Litt had the same experience, getting the first copy of Oscars Biggest Mistakes. By the way, it's almost that time of year again. Look for Eric to appear on the Minutia Men Celebrity Interview in the coming weeks with his Oscar picks.
=Two big events in the book The
Loop Files took place this week in history. On February 6, 1981, Steve
& Garry were fired by the Loop for "violating community
standards." It was a huge shock at the time that has never been
satisfactorily explained. Also, this week in 2023, Johnny B re-emerged
to appear on WGN-TV as a mystery guest.
=Also, celebrating a birthday this week (February 6), former Loop late-nighter Ed Tyll. You may not like what he says, but he'll say it anyway, Ed Tyll. Ed has a new book out, by the way. You can find that here.
=Bobby Skafish's tome about his 40 years of rock and roll encounters is like a history book of the genre, written by someone who personally met and interviewed the biggest stars imaginable. One of the greats featured in the book is celebrating a birthday this week, Graham Nash (below/February 2)
=Chet Coppock was friends with George Halas, founder of the Bears and the NFL. Chet went to every opening game for the Bears for 68 straight years. When Papa Bear died in 1983, Chet broke the story on the local news (he was doing sports at Channel 5 at the time). He also wrote about him in his Eckhartz Press book. Papa Bear was born this week (February 2) in 1895.
=On the 60th anniversary of one of Chicago's most tragic fires, at Our Lady of the Angels school, veteran television reporter and producer (ABC-7, WGN-TV) Alex Burkholder released his comprehensive study of that fire, which included his well researched theory of how that fire began. WGN-TV's Steve Sanders (celebrating a birthday this week February 3) brought Alex (middle) onto the midday news to discuss it, along with one of the grown kids who survived the fire.
=Rich King wrote a book in 2022 called Ike & Me, about his relationship with cameraman Richard "Ike" Isaacs. The Black & White team worked together for decades under the guidance of former WGN-TV sports director Dan Roan. Both Rich and Ike speak highly of this week's birthday boy (February 3) in the book.
=If it seems like there is no end to the sports stars featured in Randy Merkin's book Behind the Glass, you aren't far off. For instance, Hank Aaron and Alonzo Mourning (photo), both born this week (Feb 5 & 8 respectively), each rate their own chapters. But sports stars aren't the only big names in the book. Tom Brokaw (Feb 6) and Jack Lemmon (Feb 8) are in the book too.
=This week in 2022, The Daily Herald's Jim O'Donnell wrote about our Christmas of 2021's big hit Grammar Moses by Jim Baumann.
=This week in 2018, Lee Kingsmill appeared on Nick Digilio's show to talk about his Book of the Year finalist Safe Inside.
=Look what book is once again relevant...
