Publishing Portal--November 12, 2024

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

White Sox Special

=Last Comiskey, Chili Dog MVP, Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Ballclub

Worth a Second Look

=Tonight in Skokie at Sketchbook, 4901 Main Street. Festivities begin at 7:30pm. Author Eric Litt will be selling and signing books. He'll also do a reading. See you there!

I Bear Witness

=We have a launch party scheduled for Dan McNeil's new book I Bear Witness. Dan will be at Bridges in Griffith Indiana signing and selling his book. It happens to coincide with a very important Indiana University football game--which will be on all the TVs in the joint. The date is November 30th. The time is 1-4pm. Join us for an afternoon of fun and football.

The Flip Side

=This one is burning up the website these days. The story of the great Flip Side record stores and concert promotions doesn't officially come out for a few more weeks, but the buzz is real. 

=Meet the authors. The story is mainly told by Carl & Larry Rosenbaum. 

Hailing from the north side of Chicago, Carl and Larry Rosenbaum are two brothers who had an idea and an abundance of gumption to make it in the record business. Their passion, drive, creativity (and sometimes naivety) led to The Flip Side becoming Chicago’s premiere record store chain. From that chain came a concert arm that produced some of Chicago’s most memorable concerts including 1977’s Super Bowl of Rock shows at Soldier Field and The Who at the International Amphitheatre in 1979. Both proud husbands, fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers, Carl and Larry Rosenbaum may be retired now, but from 1968 until 1995 they brought rock and roll to life for millions of Chicago music fans. (Larry on the left, Carl on the right)

=Helping them tell the story is veteran writer Ken Churilla.

Ken is a 35+ year journalist with three books to his credit. In addition to The Flip Side: Where Chicago Rocked (Eckhartz Press), Ken co-authored the Chicago Writer’s Association ‘Book of the Year’ finalist Doin’ The Cruise: A Lifetime in Radio and Rock & Roll (Eckhartz Press) as well as No One Said It Would Be Easy: A Husband’s Journey Through His Wife’s Battle With Breast Cancer (Dunham Books) which achieved Amazon Best Seller Rankings in the Breast Cancer category of #1 (Canada), #3 (Australia), and #7 (USA). Ken has simultaneously forged a 30-year career in music and media, spending the majority of it in country and rock & roll and writing various media kit biographies for the likes of George Strait, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Ray Scott, and more. He currently holds the title of Director of Marketing & Communications for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Visit his website at KenChurilla.com.

Leaving Glory For Greatness

=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.

Death of the Angels

=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 earlier this year.

The Loop Files

=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)

Gel Strong

=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.

=Just a year later (November 17), Mark gathered all of his friends down to Atlanta once again. This time it was for his farewell party. He wanted a chance to say goodbye to everyone in person, while he still could. It was a pretty gut-wrenching night for everyone. 

=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. 

Hugh Hefner's First Funeral

=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.

Grammar Moses

=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.

 

 We Have Company

=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 is also Amy Jacobsen's birthday (November 11). Amy is a Chicago broadcaster (WIND-AM). She came to Bobby's book release party in 2016.

Grun Weiss Vor!

=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 second picture features the co-author of Grun Weiss Vor (Rick Kaempfer) with Hall of Famer Stefan Laxgang. Laxgang was Rick's first coach when he began playing soccer back in the late 60s/early 70s.

Life Behind the Camera

=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.

Cubsessions

=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.

 Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind

=Eckhartz Press author Vicki Quade is known for much more than her excellent book about meeting people in Chicago. She's also a playwright, and tis the season for her holiday plays. Christmas Bingo comes to Madison Street Theater, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park, for one day only, at 3 p.m., Sunday, December 1. Written by Vicki Quade, one of the creators of the hit comedy Late Nite Catechism, Christmas Bingo brings together two of the best things about being Catholic: Christmas and Bingo. The show features the character of Mrs. Mary Margaret O’Brien, a former nun and current bingo caller. Quade will be on stage for this performance.

Always a Pleasure

=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)

Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=Ten years ago this week we lost former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne (November 14). Jane was mayor during John Landecker's heyday at WLS-AM 890, and he had several stories about her in his book. Here's a free excerpt featuring the parts about Jane.

Publishing Portal--November 5, 2024

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

NEW BOOK RELEASE: The Flip Side

Available for pre-order now!

Birthed by Chicago natives Carl and Larry Rosenbaum, “The Flip Side” grew from an idea into a store and then into a chain. Somewhere along the way, those stores sprouted an entire second identity as Chicago’s premier concert promoter, putting on some of the biggest rock shows Chicago saw in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

In so many ways, Flip Side defined music for hundreds of thousands of Chicagoland music fans.

The Flip Side: Where Chicago Rocked takes you through the lifespans of both the record store chain as well as their concert business. We’ll give you a look ‘behind the counter’ and show you how everything was built, how it all lived and breathed, and we’ll share many of the fun and not-so-fun stories that took place. More than that, we’ll give you a warm look back and a chance to revisit what was a great time in Chicago and an even better time in rock and roll.

As Emerson, Lake & Palmer so famously once said, welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside…

 

Worth a Second Look

=Don't forget to mark your calendar for the upcoming book launch party for Eric Litt's Worth a Second Look. He'll be at Sketchbook in Skokie (4901 Main Street, Skokie) on Tuesday night November 12th at 7:30pm. Sketchbook is a great local brewery and tap room with a biergarten, live music, and visiting food trucks.

=Eric sat down this week to do a Q&A about his new book. You can read that here.

Behind the Glass

=This week in 2021 (November 5), Randy Merkin announced the release of his book Behind the Glass live on the air on ESPN Radio in Chicago. 

=Robert Feder also wrote about Randy's book in the Daily Herald (November 8).

 

Always a Pleasure

=This week in 2022, Chuck Swirsky was making the rounds promoting his book Always a Pleasure. He did two hours on the radio with Steve Rosenbloom on the Score (November 5), and he also appeared on WGN-TV (November 8)

=In addition, this week in 1995 (November 3), the Toronto Raptors played their first game in franchise history. The man behind the play-by-play microphone was Chuck Swirsky. He talked about that story in this podcast. 

=And finally, this week is the birthday (November 5) of the late great basketball titan, Bill Walton. Chuck wrote about him in his book as well. 

Back in the DDR

=This week in 2022 (November 4), Rick Kaempfer kicked off the publicity campaign to his coming-of-age spy novel Back in the DDR with an interview on WGN Radio. That interview is here. 

=It's not a coincidence that the book came out the same week the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 (November 9). Rick took this first photo of the wall in 1976, the year the book takes place. It appears on the back cover of the book. The second photo was taken just a few weeks after the wall came down. That's Rick and his brother Peter. Lots of stretches like this still existed. It's completely gone now. The third photo is from this summer. Rick is standing outside the East German secret police headquarters (STASI), which has been turned into a museum.

   

  

Grammar Moses

=This week in 2021, Grammar Moses author Jim Baumann was making the rounds promoting his book. He appeared on this podcast with Steve Cochran (November 3), and the Minutia Men Celebrity Interview the next day (November 4). Two days later he was in Elgin, signing and selling copies of Grammar Moses. The pandemic was still raging, and our intrepid author was out there fully masked.

 

We Have Company

 =This week in 2016, Bobby Skafish made two public appearances selling and promoting his book. The first stop was in Des Plaines, Il (November 7). The second stop (November 9) was at the legendary Red Lion pub on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.

  

Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=This week in 1882, the Dow Jones was founded. Not many people know this, but early in his career, John Landecker actually went by the name Dow Jones on the air. This is the only known picture of Dow Jones, taken outside the radio station in Michigan.

=This week in 2013, John Landecker appeared on Pete McMurray's show on WGN Radio to talk about the book.

=This week in 2017, John was on the air at WBEZ Radio, and WGN-TV talking about the new Hall of Fame edition of the book. His daughter Amy joined him on the WGN TV set.

=One of the contributors to Records Truly Is My Middle Name, Catherine Johns, is celebrating a birthday this week (November 3). She tells a few very memorable stories about Landecker in the book.

Mob Adjacent

=One of the joys of the book Mob Adjacent is the way it intersects the world of the mafia with the world of Hollywood. One of the big stars of the era who is discussed in the book, Art Carney, was born this week in 1918 (November 4).

Your Dime My Dance Floor

=This week in 2018 (November 5), Chet Coppock had the single-biggest-selling day in the life of his book. He spoke at the Polish American Alliance in Westmont, and every single attendee (over 200) bought a copy of the book. Chet was in rare form that day.

Righteous Might

=The Eckhartz Press book Righteous Might takes place on the USS Gerald R. Ford. Now, if you happen to go on that ship, you can read Righteous Might in the ship's library. We got a letter this week (November 6) in 2020 from the ship's Captain. What an honor. Congrats to author Keith Conrad!

GelStrong!

=This week in 2016, Eckhartz Press author Mark Gelinas was featured on a local television station in Atlanta (WSB-TV). Mark passed away a few years later, but this interview, and the book lives on. Mark's story will always remain an inspiration.

 

Father Knows Nothing

=This week in 2014 (November 4), Rick Kaempfer was out and about promoting his humor book Father Knows Nothing. As a bonus for the readers of the book, he released these bonus audio tracks on our website. Two of the boys featured in the book (Tommy & Johnny) come to life via these timeless audio clips.

Cameo

=This week in 2018 (November 9), Windy City Reviews came out with a review of the Eckhartz Press book Cameo. Here's what they had to say about the book....

    Cameo, by Beth Jacobellis, is an interweaving of the past, its impact on the present, and how our feelings can get in the way of understanding what is pulling us through to the future. The book begins in the present, but we are quickly transported to the cameo’s present life in 1994 and then again through vignettes from 1885, 1976 and 1989. Cameo is a charming story to read. It is not a long book, but this type of love story, with layers of the past all playing out at the same time, draws us into Samantha’s quest and carries us through a briskly-paced read. I enjoyed this book for its clear storytelling and mysterious overtones. I also found it refreshing that the past is not always looking to punish but merely to resolve.

City U

=This week in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, Bob Boone gave a talk about his collection of short stories, City U, via zoom. The virtual author event actually took place in Glencoe, but this was around the time we started figuring out that we are no longer confined by our location.

 

Grun Weiss Vor!

=This week in 2023, two of the stars from the book Grun Weiss Vor! were inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame. Marcus Laxgang was a Herman Award Winner as the best college soccer player in America, and Joe Filian played along the likes of Franz Beckenbauer on the New York Cosmos. Both players got their start at Green White Soccer Club.

   

Publishing Portal--October 22, 2024

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

Worth a Second Look

=Mark your calendar for the upcoming book launch party for Eric Litt's Worth a Second Look. He'll be at Sketchbook in Skokie (4901 Main Street, Skokie) on Tuesday night November 12th at 7:30pm. Sketchbook is a great local brewery and tap room with a biergarten, live music, and visiting food trucks.

=That name, Eric Litt, sounds familiar, doesn't it? It should, this is his second book about movies for Eckhartz Press. His first book, Oscars Biggest Mistakes, is a big seller for us during every Oscar season. Eric Litt has been employed by WGN-TV/Ch. 9 for over 31 years and currently is the Programming Specialist for Nexstar Media’s Digital Multicast Networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV. In addition to enjoying movies, he loves music, television, and baseball and is an avid runner and triathlete. Eric lives with his wife in Skokie, Illinois and has three grown kids. 

The Loop Files

=This week last year Rick Kaempfer got the first copy of his book The Loop Files. He had no idea it would go on to become our best selling book ever.

=The book is dedicated to two important Loopers who are no longer with us, promotion directors Sandy Stahl and Cindy Gatziolis. Cindy passed away this week (2025) in 2014. Hard to believe it's been ten years already.

=Several of the big stars mentioned in the book are celebrating birthdays this week. Patti Haze (October 25) was a major contributor to the radio station (the Loop), but she also contributed to the book. Bob Odenkirk (October 22) is a name that will surprise more casual fans of the station. It's true, the movie and television star got his start at the Loop as part of a comedy troupe called Duck Logic. This is a picture of them below. Can you spot Bob?

Always a Pleasure

=This week in 2022 (October 26), Chuck Swirsky's book Always a Pleasure was released by Eckhartz Press. Chuck was a promotional machine the next two months pitching the book. This week he was on WGN Radio with Bob Sirott (October 20), and was featured in the Chicago Sun Times (October 20)

=The subjects of two of the most surprising photos (and stories) in the book, Drake (October 24) and Tom Petty (October 20) were both born this week...

 

Vintage Confidential and Selling Dead People's Things

=What do these two titles have in common? They are both written by Duane Scott Cerny. Duane is now making his thoughts, mirth, mayhem and misery in the vintage realm regularly available via his Substack called It's All My Fault. You can subscribe here.

Last Comiskey

=Are you following (Book of the Year finalist) author Ken Smoller's Stadium Vagabond twitter feed yet? If not, why not? Here's a typical example from this week...

From the “Last Comiskey” book, Teammates, Ken Griffey Jr & Sr, playing catch at the last game at Comiskey Park on 9/30/90. The book (Eckhartz Press: https://t.co/Iy3fUkPhYb) has 400+ pics from the last days of Sox Park. #lebron #bronny #kengriffeyjr #junior #WhiteSox #Mariners pic.twitter.com/vjPif1xqxF

— Stadium Vagabond (@StadiumVagabond) October 22, 2024

Pat Colander

=One of our favorite departed authors Pat Colander would have been celebrating a birthday this week (October 25). Pat was our first author to win the Book of the Year award from the Chicago Writers Association. Her book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral: And other True Tales of Love and Death in Chicago is a journalistic masterpiece. Unbeknownst to us, Pat was already sick at the time of its publication. She passed away in January of 2019. We still miss her.

=This week in 2016, she did a well-attended reading from her book in Munster, Indiana. 

Joel Daly

=This week in 2020 (October 22) we lost another Eckhartz Press author. The universally beloved Joel Daly. Joel was a Renaissance man, Anchorman/Reporter/Attorney/Singer/Actor/Pilot. His book The Daly News was a 2014 release at Eckhartz Press. When Joel passed away he was lionized all over the media. Of course Channel 7 did an on-air tribute to Joel. The Sun-Times published this wonderful obit. Media writer Robert Feder also paid tribute. Great guy. We miss him. 

Best Seat in the House and EveryCubEver

=This week in 2016 (October 20), as the Cubs were beginning their World Series run, WCIU-TV invited two of our authors Rick Kaempfer (EveryCubEver) and Bruce Bohrer (Best Seat in the House) to be part of their morning show, live from Wrigleyville. This is Bruce with WCIU Morning host Jon Hansen. 

Doin the Cruise

=This week in 2018 (October 20), Mitch Michaels drove all the way to Northwest Indiana for a book signing at Tom Lounges' record store. Two of the members of M&R Rush showed up to say hello.

Grammar Moses

=This week in 2021 (October 2), Daily Herald editor/columnist Jim Baumann was featured in Robert Feder's column. Jim had just published his highly acclaimed book Grammar Moses. The book was a collection of Jim's famous grammar columns from the Daily Herald. 

Behind the Glass

=Randy Merkin's stories in Behind the Glass are mostly about athletes, but there are a few that cross over into the world of entertainment. For instance, this guy, Snoop Dog, celebrating a birthday this week (October 20).

 

 

Grace's Rockin Roll Adventure

=This week in 2020 (October 20), we met with author Ken Korber, to celebrate his collaboration with E-street guitarist Steven Van Zandt. It was in the midst of the pandemic, but these three brave souls still managed to gather for a photo...

 

Cheeseland and Lost In the Ivy

=This week in 2015 (October 21), Eckhartz Press author Randy Richardson was asked to attend the Carl Sandberg Literary Awards to benefit the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Steven Sondheim, Rick Bayless, Scott Simon, Bill Kurtis, Marv Levy, Sara Paretsky, Jim Peterik and Scott Turow were among the other attendees. You know, no big whoop.

   

The Unplanned Life and Wicker Park Wishes

=This week in 2020 (October 21), Roger Badesch was interviewed by Margaret Larkin for her Metrolingua blog about his memoir The Unplanned Life. You can still read that interview here.

=At the time, we had no way of knowing that Margaret Larkin would become an Eckhartz Press author herself. Just two years later (October 22), she appeared in Wicker Park to promote her novel Wicker Park Wishes...

Brandwidth

=This week in 2020 (October 22), author Kipper McGee appeared on the RadioInfo podcast to talk about his media book Brandwidth. You can still listen to that here. 

Chili Dog MVP and To The Men I've Loved

=This week (October 22) is former Chicago White Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood's 83rd birthday. Wilbur was a 20-game winner for the White Sox in the 1970s, but he also managed to do something even more impressive. He found his way into two Eckhartz Press books. This first photo of Wilbur with Nancy Faust and Bill Melton appears in Chili Dog MVP. The second photo of Wilbur and Jay Johnstone with Soxette (and future Eckhartz Press author Pat Motto) appears in To the Men I've Loved.

  

Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=This week in 2017 (October 23) we released the Hall of Fame edition of Records Truly Is My Middle Name after it was announced that John Landecker had been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. He was later also inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. John wrote a few new chapters and added a few dozen more photos for the new addition.

=Two days later we made an appearance at Purdue University (October 25). Both John and co-author Rick Kaempfer appeared for a lecture in the media department. 

Grun Weiss Vor! and Signature Shoes

=The greatest soccer player of all-time, Pele, was born this week (October 23) in 1940. Pele also appears in two Eckhartz Press books. The top photo is Pele with Green White Soccer Club legend Tom Czop from the book Grun Weiss Vor! The second photo is Pele's signature shoes, which are discussed and highlighted in Ryan Trembath's entertaining book about the Signature Shoe craze.

  

Transatlantic Passage

=Speaking of soccer, this week is also soccer legend Wayne Rooney's birthday (October 24). He appears in Paul Banks' book about the success of the Premier League in America, Transatlantic Passage. Paul even managed to snap this shot of the former Manchester United man.

 

We Have Company

=This week in 2016 (October 26), Bobby Skafish appeared on Kipper McGee's podcast to discuss his book We Have Company. 

=This week is also the birthday of one of the rock stars who appears in Bobby's book. Happy birthday to former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman (October 24).

The Radio Producer's Handbook

=Though this book is not technically an Eckhartz Press book, it did begin co-publisher Rick Kaempfer's official literary career. Twenty years ago this month (October 21), Channel 7 reporter Andy Shaw interviewed Rick and his co-author John Swany Swanson for Lake Magazine. You can read the entire interview here, if you're interested.