Publishing Portal--May 14, 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.

The Loop Files

=This past weekend The Loop Files author Rick Kaempfer appeared at the Pollyanna Brewing Company in Roselle. At least a dozen former Loopers were there interacting with the Loop fan crowd. Here are a few photos from that memorable event. 

=On Friday night Rick appeared with Dave Plier on WGN Radio. You can listen to that here.

=Thanks to Tom Barnas for this piece in his “Stories from the 78”

= On May 17, 1989, comedian Sam Kinison & his friend Guns & Roses guitarist Slash, visited the WLUP (Steve & Garry) studios. The story of that incredible day is told in the pages of The Loop Files. 

 

Last Comiskey

=The big official launch party of our latest book Last Comiskey is coming this Thursday, May 16. Among the celebrity guests appearing at this one; White Sox greats Ron Kittle, Jack McDowell and Donn Pall and Organist Nancy Faust. Please RSVP to info@stadiumvagabond.com.

Chicago--The Great Retirement Resource

=This week in 2023, Russ Fahrner & Bruce Bohrer released their book about retiring in Chicagoland. We got a chance to have a Q&A with them about their book. 

City U

=This week in 2021, the book City U was released. This Q&A with author Bob Boone explains that book pretty well.

 Severance

=In 2007, future Eckhartz Press publisher Rick Kaempfer released his first novel (with New York publisher ENC Press). The rights to that book have now reverted to Rick and is available via Eckhartz Press. 

=This interview came out this week in 2007. Radio Hall of Famer John Landecker interviewed Rick.

=In 2017, on the 10th anniversary of Severance, Rick wrote an update about media ownership for Illinois Entertainer.

=May 17 is also former media critic Robert Feder's birthday. Here's what he had to say about Severance when it came out...

• “Told with the keen insight of a veteran insider, it’s a humorous indictment of an industry that has lost all sense of purpose — except for making money, of course.”

  Media columnist Robert Feder

 

Behind the Glass

=Two sports legends celebrating their birthdays this week get a full chapter in Randy Merkin's book. John Smoltz (May 15) and Jim Nantz (May 17).

Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=Just a few months after the release of his book, John Landecker's former boss Paul Drew died. Drew famously asked Landecker to stop using his real name (the almost perfect radio name John Records Landecker) and go with Scott Walker. The free excerpt about that strange career moment is here. 

=This week in 2015, John and his daughter Amy (a successful actress in Hollywood, married to Bradley Whitford) made the media rounds in Chicago. 

Chili Dog MVP

=Two 1972 White Sox, featured in the book Chili Dog MVP, are celebrating birthdays this week. Carlos May (May 17) is the only player to have his birthday on his jersey. He was #17. (Photo: Eckhartz publisher Rick Kaempfer with Carlos). Steve Kealey (May 13) was a pitcher on that team. 

Your Dime My Dance Floor

=How many sportscasters do you know that interviewed Olga Korbut? Chet Coppock is one of them, and he wrote about it in his Eckhartz Press book. Can you tell it was the 1970s? Olga's birthday is this week (May 16) 

An Off-White Christmas

=Author Rosellen Brown (born May 12) is a big fan of Eckhartz Press author Don Evans, and gave this review to his book An Off White Christmas.

Donald Evans has a great ear and a light touch and together they lead An Off-White Christmas in unpredictable directions. Underlying what’s funny in these stories are real families, friends and lovers colliding or coming together in what promises, but doesn’t always turn out to be, the season of good cheer.

Rosellen Brown, author of Street Games, Before and After, Half a Heart and others

 

EveryCubEver

=This week in 2019, EveryCubEver author Rick Kaempfer met life-long Cubs fan George Will and gave him a copy of EveryCubEver. The sixth edition of the book is now available.

The Unplanned Life

=This week in 1981 (May 13), Pope John Paul II was shot. Roger Badesch was a journalist at the time and covered that story. He tells all about it in his book, The Unplanned Life. 

Mob Adjacent

=This week in 2018 (May 14), the authors of Mob Adjacent, the Gentile Brothers (Jeff & Michael), were interviewed by Tribune columnist and WGN+ podcaster John Kass. 

The Daly News

=The original Mayor Daley, Richard J. Daley, was born in Bridgeport this week (May 15) in 1902. Hizzoner always got a kick out of being interviewed by the second most famous Daly in Chicago during the 1970s, newscaster Joel. That story is told in Joel's book The Daly News.

 

The Living Wills

=This week in 2012 (May 14), the Daily Herald published an article about the first ever Eckhartz Press book, The Living Wills

 

Truffle Hunt

=In 2015 when Brent Petersen wrote his foodie novel Truffle Hunt, synthetic truffles didn't exist. He predicted (in the novel) that they would one day, and just two years later May 18, 2017 he was proven correct. 

Cubsessions

=This week in 2018, Cubsessions co-author Randy Richardson had a book signing at the Billy Goat on lower Michigan Avenue. Among the luminaries who came out that day were former Cubs ballgirl Kathy Wolter, Ronnie WooWoo, and Dave Cihla, the creator of the Shawon-O-Meter. Randy later appeared with Cub Willson Contreras at Club 400. Willson (yes two Ls) is celebrating a birthday this week (May 13).

Cameo

=This week in 2018 (May 18), Cameo author Beth Jacobelllis appeared on America's Most Haunted to talk about the haunting tale that inspired her novel.

Hugh Hefner's First Funeral

=This week in 2019 (May 18), writer Dave Hoekstra did a heartwarming tribute to the recently deceased Eckhartz Press author Pat Colander. That tribute is still on the WGN Radio website. 

 

A tour of Rick's office

=This week in 2020 (May 15), during the height of the pandemic shutdown, a group of writers and booksellers got together to help raise money and awareness of the plight of Indie bookstores, which were forced to close during the pandemic. One of the writers asked to contribute a video about what it's like to work at home was Eckhartz Press publisher, Rick Kaempfer. This is that video...

Eckhartz Everyday

On this day in 2017, the tenth anniversary of $everance, I re-visited the "Who Owns What" in media from the end of the book. It's changed a bit since then, but for the most part it's still accurate. 

Who Owns What

And Who Owns What Radio

I can't believe the book is now 15 years old. Crazy. It's the main reason I started up this blog in December of 2005. I was going to use this as a promotional vehicle for the upcoming book. The book took two more years to finish, and by the time it came out, I was in too deep. 

By the way, I realize this wasn't an Eckhartz Press book. It's still available at ENC Press.

*Today is also former White Sox first baseman Tony Muser's birthday. He was a member of the '72 Sox and is therefore part of the Eckhartz Press book Chili Dog MVP.

$everance

Today is officially the 15th anniversary of my first novel's release. It was called $everance. It's still available at ENC Press.

Not to be confused with the recent series on Apple TV. This was the story of the original $everance...

Tom Zagorski was one of the most popular morning radio personalities in Chicago for nearly twenty years, but the financial realities of the new corporate-owned media world make him obsolete. His boss is doing whatever he can (including public and private humiliation) to make Zagorski quit so he doesn’t have to pay the severance. Zagorski pushes back by passive-aggressively needling his boss into firing him — without ever crossing the line that could get him fired for cause.

When neither side budges after six months of battle, an exasperated Zagorski sends an e-mail to the CEO of the corporation, sarcastically suggesting a massive firing of anyone who doesn’t actually bring in money. Instead of firing Zagorski in a rage, CEO takes the e-mail at face value, eliminating thousands of jobs and sending the stock price soaring. To reward the genius who came up with the idea, the CEO makes Zagorski his new COO.

Getting fired suddenly becomes a monumental task: Zagorski has become the darling of Wall Street. In order to get fired, he has to get the stock price to go down and/or irritate his mercurial boss so much that he can’t take him any longer. Zagorski takes great glee in pursuing both of these options, and, along with his on-air partner Richard Lawrence, plunges headlong into the world of media finance, politics, and personalities.

Still very proud of this one. 

It got great reviews. 

It was particularly appreciated by people in the media who knew what I was writing about...

"Rick cuts the modern media conglomerates to the quick in his alternately hilarious and disturbing Severance. Some readers will think his moguls and media personalities are exagerrated. I'm here to tell you they're pretty dead-on."
--Roe Conn, WLS Radio





"It's about time somebody told this story. $everance certainly captured the world of radio, warts and all."
--Legendary broadcaster Clark Weber








“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!”
--ABC-TV News Reporter Andy Shaw




"Other than 'love', 'Severance' is the sweetest word in the English language. This really made me laugh."
--WGN Radio's Steve Cochran





"Told with the keen insight of a veteran insider, it's a humorous indictment of an industry that has lost all sense of purpose -- except for making money, of course."
--Former Chicago Sun Times media columnist Robert Feder




"A hysterical critique of corporate morality"
--Chicago Tribune's RedEye Columnist and WGN-TV Morning News Anchor Larry Potash




"I was with it the whole way, and I love the appended real life figures at the end. I enjoyed the hell out of $everance."
--The Beachwood Reporter's Steve Rhodes


"Brilliant satire! I got a paper cut from the sarcasm. I wish I could say it was great fiction, but having worked in radio, I think it’s just really funny non-fiction. The reality in between the laughs will scare the hell out of you."
--Longtime radio personality and playwright Spike Manton





"I thought this novel was just going to be an amusing story about radio. But the way Kaempfer has woven in elements of all media and politics is masterful, to say nothing of insightful, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny! It’s a brilliant first entry. I can't wait for his next page-turner!"
--Legendary broadcaster and programmer Bob Dearborn





"$everance is a comical, suspenseful, thought-provoking novel about the frightening realities of corporate media in America. Kaempfer writes with ease, quickly drawing the reader in to the satirical-yet oddly realistic-world he's created. This one is tough to put down-a delightful page-turner!"
--Julia Perla, Managing Editor, Shore Magazine




"Too bad Zagorski (the main character) is fictional. Today's media could use someone like him to shake things up. He's the personification of fairness with just enough wicked cynicism to make him completely irresistible. The thought that a team like Zagorski and Lawrence might actually exist should make some big bosses more than a little uneasy."
--Leslie Keiling, WGN Radio



"Rick Kaempfer’s “$everence” is whiplash-fast, choke-on-your-coffee funny, and ultimately frightening. Kaempfer has seen it all in the radio business, and has some dire predictions for the rest of the media, too. It’s the summer’s must-discuss beach read – and probably a sign of the apocalypse."
--Paige Wiser, Chicago Sun-Times columnist




"I laughed out loud many times while reading it - yeah, it's that funny! If you work in the radio business you'll love the inside view of the industry and if you're not in the media you will certainly learn a lot of eye-opening trade secrets."
--Cara Carriveau




"I began laughing almost immediately! The first paragraph alone made me feel like I was back at my first radio job trying to avoid doing anything remotely near the station’s break room! I absolutely LOVE the book! The plot twists and turns were totally unpredictable!"
--Darren Marlar, "Marlar in the Morning", 101-QFL


"As funny as this book is, $everance is a must read for anyone who cares about the state of radio and the media in general. The more ridiculous the plot gets, the more one realizes that it's probably the closest to the truth about what comes out of our radios, tvs and newspapers every day! Kaempfer has done his homework and manages to weave a delightful tale questioning the terrifying possibilities of truth for sale."
---Jeanne Ashley, Star 102 KCKC, Kansas City




"Richard Kaempfer has peeled the lid off your favorite radio station and shown what's inside. $everance turns the radio business on its head and makes you laugh out loud, but it also asks some tough questions. A great read!"
--Reed Pence, Media Tracks




"Got this book and read it in one sitting. Fantastic. I'm realizing that I worked with - and for - most of the characters in this book!"
--Len O'Kelly, WFGR Morning Host







"It's a ripe satire that rips the media giants a new one. Kaempfer throws his rocks with a keen insight."
--Jeff Hoover, WGN-TV Morning News






"Rick Kaempfer's novel Severance reveals the scary truth about the state of our media industry today. In a country where the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate were created specifically to keep our government in check, Severance is a must read for anyone who listens to the radio, watches TV or reads the newspaper—and who cares about the information they’re being fed. This is an extremely important book, one the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know about!"
--Kim Strickland, author of "Wish Club"


"A fast moving read that gives the reader insight into the fast moving radio industry; Kaempfer folds the reality of the business with the ridiculous...which is more often than not, the reality of the business!"
--Andi Kuhn, longtime radio personality





"Severance may be a novel – but the storyline it presents is a very realistic – albeit extreme look at the corporate media world – written as only an industry insider could do."
--Dan Kelley, longtime radio programmer

Here are several more from regular readers. 

Here's another. 

When it first came out, John Records Landecker even interviewed me about it in the pages of Shore Magazine. You can read that interview here.

I wrote about it for the Illinois Enterainter on the 10th anniversary.

Sadly, most of the things I predicted would happen (as satire) have happened. Even more sadly, in the case of political media, I wasn't savage enough. Reality has gone beyond satire. I still think it's the best thing I've ever written. But that's just my opinion.

I wish it had gained a bigger audience, but after my round of local media appearances (who embraced it), I realized that the national media would never give me a platform to point out how corrupt they were. At the time, my family was also struggling financially (I had recently left the business permanently, and was working as a free-lance writer), so this was the extent of my advertising budget. It was highly mobile, but it turns out, it wasn't too effective...