The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Nick Digilio has been everywhere this week. You may have seen this great piece in the Sunday Chicago Tribune about him. Thanks so much to Rick Kogan for writing that piece.
=Maybe you came to his Book Launch party at Kaiser Tiger on Friday night. Axios' Monica Eng was there. So was Svengoolie's executive producer Jim Roche. Great turnout.
=Maybe you saw him at Brickhouse Tavern on Thursday night.
=Maybe you saw him at his movie screening/book signing at the Lake Theater on Wednesday night.
=Maybe you saw him on WGN-TV Tuesday afternoon. Watch the video here.
The Sun at the End of the Road
=On Thursday Nick Digilio paid tribute to his late friend Tony Fitzpatrick, who wrote the introduction to Nick's book. Tony, of course, also wrote the wonderful Eckhartz Press book The Sun at the End of the Road. It's filled with Tony's amazing artwork. Tony's last two posters are also available at Eckhartz Press. Check them out here and here.
=On February 6th, Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and Dave will be hosting a virtual event that pays tribute to Tony and his book. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
=Doug E. Jones was on the How to Share podcast with Wynne Leon and Vicki Atkinson. The two interviewers did a great job, and Doug told some behind the scenes stories from his Hollywood days. Here's Wynne's take on that interview...
=The December issue of Natural Awakenings is out and features an article about our man Jeff Reiter and his book The Best of Words on Birds.
=Don't forget that you've got two chances to meet Jeff in the new year. On January 15th he'll be doing a talk at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Dupage county. Register here. On February 15th he'll be in Lake County for the Gull Frolic. We'll have more information about that as it gets closer.
=Mark Wukas also has an upcoming event in February. He will be at Welcome to the Show at the Getaway, 4530 N Lincoln Ave., at 7 p.m. on February 16. More details as the date approaches.
What else is coming in 2026?
=We have some gems, in addition to the 7 books we mentioned last week. Coming very soon, a history of the City News Bureau in Chicago (from the files of the man who ran it for decades), and a hilarious memoir from a comedian who saw the internet bubble burst first-hand in the early part of this century.
=Also in the pipeline: a long lost manuscript from a beloved Chicago television icon, a tribute to the power of Chicago radio from a man who was inspired by it, an art book from an acclaimed Chicago artist, a business book from an expert who regularly appears on Chicago television, a book about the wonders of sobriety written by a former Chicago media executive, a collection of a Chicago newspaper columnist's best work, a tribute to sportscaster Les Grobstein, a former Chicago alderman's memoir, and a novel by an award-winning nationally-renowned Chicago novelist.
=Not bad, eh? 2026 is our 15th year, and it's going to be a big one for us.
=Author/blogger/podcaster Vicki Atkinson pays tribute to the authors she spoke with this year, including a half-dozen members of the Eckhartz Press stable. You can read that here.
=Another week, another promotional video from Jeff and Mike Gentile.
Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind
=Vicki Quade's latest show is this week. She sent us a note...I'm performing my hit comedy, Christmas Bingo: It's a Ho-Ho-Holy Night!, at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago for one night only, December 18. It's part of my new Nuns4Fun, Late Nite Catechism series rebranding. To order tickets, go online to: https://irish-american.org/event/christmas-bingo-its-a-ho-ho-holy-night You can also call the Nuns4Fun office at (773) 388-0730.
=Have you seen the Loop exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications yet? We hear there is a new display coming to this exhibit. It's being donated by Lorelei. That's all we're authorized to say about it at this time. Remember, the entire Loop exhibit is only running until the end of January. Be sure to see it before it goes away.
=On December 15, this incredible review of the book was posted.
=On December 17, the South Side Pod interviewed Rick about the book.
=That interview happened at a live event in Blue Island, at the Blue Island Beer Company. Here are a few photos from that day...
=The following day (December 18) Rick appeared on this podcast hosted by Rob Hahn.
=And he appeared in this television interview with Rabbi Doug.
=And finally it was the 37th anniversary (December 20) of an event that Rick produced when he actually worked at the Loop, Steve & Garry's A Christmas Carol. The star-studded event was covered by every news outlet in town and garnered a full page story in the Chicago Tribune. This is how Loop General Manager Jimmy de Castro described it at the time...
=Lee Kingsmill wrote the book Safe Inside for us back in 2018, and it was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year. He doesn't want to write another book, but luckily for us, he continues to write his blog, Me Now. He reviews opera, theater and film. This week he reviewed the film Hamnet.
=Brent Petersen's foodie novel Truffle Hunt is his only novel (so far), but he continues to write about food and travel with his trademark sense of humor. His recent piece in Rhode Island Monthly is a keeper. It's about the long Italian goodbyes. Very funny and very true.
=In 2024, Last Comiskey was a finalist for Book of the Year. Ken Smoller's book about the last season at the original Comiskey Park has gotten great reviews, and brought him lots of attention. Here's one example: he appeared on Ed Lynch's podcast, Surfing Baseball with Ed Lynch. You can listen to that here.
=Last year's Chicago Bears season was going much differently than this year. That's why we were especially appreciative to everyone who came out to Edison Park to see Dan McNeil and buy his great book about the Bears I Bear Witness. Here are a few photos from the event.
=Flip Side's very own Mr. Cheap, Jeff Schwartz, was on the air on WGN radio with Bob Sirott. You can listen to that fun interview here.
=This was also one of the saddest weeks in Eckhartz Press history. This week in 2018 (December 16), Eckhartz Press author Mark Gelinas passed away after a valiant struggle against pancreatic cancer.
=Here is what Eckhartz Press publisher Rick Kaempfer posted after he heard the news...
My heart is heavy today. Just got the news that my good friend Mark Gelinas passed away. This photo is from his book launch just two years ago, with his wife Donna. My heart goes out to Donna and the incredible Gelinas family, particularly his son Alexander Briggs Gelinas, and Mark's parents and siblings. Mark was my roommate for a few years after college, and a friend I could always count on. I was texting with him up until just a few days ago. When he didn't respond to the last text, I feared this day was near. Miss you, buddy. I'm so happy your pain is gone.
=This week in 2022 (December 15), Chuck Swirsky appeared on Chicago Tonight (WTTW-Channel 11) to talk about his book Always a Pleasure and his 50 years of broadcasting. You can watch that here. There's also, by the way, a free excerpt of the book at that link.
=Two of the people featured in the book, Ray Meyer (December 18) and Adam Amin (December 19) were born this week as well. Chuck was one of the smart broadcasters who always remembered to get a photo, including with both of those gentlemen.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name and Doin The Cruise
=This week in 2017 (December 17), two of our more prominent authors appeared at a book signing together, side by side, at the Orland Park Sports Collectors Show: John Records Landecker and Mitch Michaels. Here they are holding each other's books.
=One of the reasons the Bears have been so continously bad for the past four decades is that the man who was groomed to take over for his father George, Mugs Halas, passed away before his dad did. That happened this week (December 16) in 1979. Chet Coppock devotes an entire chapter to Mugs in Your Dime My Dance Floor.
=This week in 1943, Walt "No Neck" Williams was born in Brownwood, Texas. He not only gets a mention in Chet's book, he gets this classic photo. Walt passed away in 2016. Chet passed in 2019.
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=This week in 2017 (December 16), Tom Weinberg hosted a Sunday breakfast at the Book Stall in Winnetka to promote his book Chasing the Lost City. The Daily North Shore was there to chronicle the event.
=This week (December 16) is screenwriter Denise DeClue's birthday. Denise was a big supporter of Book of the Year winner Pat Colander and her Eckhartz Press book Hugh Hefner's First Funeral. Here's what she said about it...
Pat Colander toiled with me in the belly of the Chicago journalism beast in the 1970s and 1980s. When major stories were reported, she asked questions. When the questions were poorly answered or evaded, she asked even more questions of even more people. Then in a clear, true voice, she wrote it all down. She found the real stories behind the stories and this collection of her work is just great. She ought to be long-listed for the Man Booker prize, If I can figure out how to do it I will.
=Legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons is celebrating a birthday this week (December 16). Here he is with Bobby Skafish (and the other two Toppers, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill). This photo and the story of that interview is featured in Bobby's book We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters.
“Transatlantic Passage richly details the Premier League’s wide-ranging and often complicated influence on American soccer. While others saw mostly novelty in high-profile European clubs’ US-based preseason tours, Paul M. Banks uses them as a platform to tell the stories of the game’s most captivating and accomplished stars. Mixed with memorable and hilarious anecdotes, Banks’ incisive commentary expertly illustrates the many missteps of an often soccer-ignorant American media.”
Ken Korber
=The first day of Winter is this week (December 21). Whenever we think of the first day of a new season, we think of our children's book author Ken Korber. He's literally a man for every season. That's Ken in the middle with his spring book. Rick Kaempfer is holding Ken's Winter book, and David Stern is holding Ken's Summer book. The Fall book is sitting on a table nearby.
