The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
Happy Birthday Eckhartz Press!
The Sun at the End of the Road
=The tributes to Tony Fitzpatrick keep pouring in, including this memorial parade for Tony in New Orleans. What a moment.
=The biggest question we've been getting is about his memorial service. We finally have some news to share about that. (November 24 would have been Tony's 67th birthday.)
=Loop Files author Rick Kaempfer was out of town when the exhibit he curated at the Musuem of Broadcast Communications debuted last week, but Dean Richards did a great tour of it in this segment on the WGN-TV Morning News.
=Dane Placko did a report on the entire museum for WFLD-Channel 32. Here's a peek at it. NBC-5 was there as well. So was Axios Chicago. We like this Facebook reel of WLS Radio's Cara Carriveau discovering live on camera that she was in the display.
=Eckhartz Press co-publisher David Stern was on hand to snap some photos. Among them (the first one below) Eckhartz Press authors Bobby Skafish and Mitch Michaels. They are prominently featured in the display and so are their books (We Have Company & Doin The Cruise) , along with six other Eckhartz Press books, including of course The Loop Files. An enlarged framed photo of The Loop Files cover autographed by dozens of Loop stars from over the years is also displayed. The book is even for sale there at the museum gift shop.
=This is a big week for Gloria Golec. She got the first copy of her debut book in her hands. 
=She's also hosting a book release party, this Thursday (October 30), from 5-7pm, at Santa Fe Restaurant and Bar on 426 S. Main Street in downtown Glen Ellyn. Parking is tough in Glen Ellyn, but the restaurant is located right next to a public parking lot that most people don't know about. See you there!
=Author Jeff Reiter will be appearing on one of the most popular bird broadcasts/podcasts in the country on Sunday, November 2. Here's the link for Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds. We'll post a link to the podcast next week when it becomes available.
=Janet Sutherland-Madden is featured in the Fall issue of Power Magazine. Here's what that looks like...
=A little birdie (not one of the birds featured in Jeff Reiter's book) told us that Janet is working on a new book for 2026. We will stay on top of this breaking story.
=He's really making the rounds promoting his book. Last week Robert Conlon appeared via Zoom in Moscow, Idaho as a guest of honor for a book club discussing Celtic Knot. Yes, Eckhartz Press authors are willing to come to you!
=Exactly four years earlier, John was on Chicago Tonight with Phil Ponce talking about his book on WTTW.
Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club
=This week in 2023 (October 31), Dr. David Fletcher appeared on the podcast Byers & Company to talk about his new book about the Shoeless Joe trial.
=This week last year Eckhartz Press publishers Rick and Dave ran into the co-author of Chili Dog MVP, Dr. David Fletcher. It wasn't a chance meeting. Doc was kind enough to score these seats. It was Rick's first Illini game in 40 years. That Illini Dad shirt Dave is wearing was once the property of Rick's dad Eckhard.
=This week (October 28) was National First Responders Day. Our late author Alex Burkholder was passionate about the work of first responders. His book Death of the Angels was about the famous 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels school, and the firefighters who were there that day were his heroes. When the book was released, on the 60th anniversary of the fire, we released it at a Chicago firehouse.
=This week in 2017 (October 28), Safe Inside author Lee Kingsmill appeared a book club in Northwest Indiana to read and promote his book.
=This week in 2022 (November 2), Treatment Magazine featured a nice article about Will Wagner's book Talking Bout My Generation. You can read it here.
=This week in 2019, Rick Kaempfer appeared on WGN Radio with Andrea Darlas and CBS-2's Brad Edwards to talk about his book EveryCubEver.
=Two of the famous Chicagoans who shared their Cubs love in the book Cubsessions by Becky Sarwate and Randy Richardson are celebrating birthdays this week. Happy birthday to former Chicagoan (and star of Bleacher Bums) Dennis Franz (October 28), and happy birthday to the man who has personally met seemingly every person to ever step foot in Chicago, Ronnie Woo Woo Vickers (October 31). Ronnie even came out to a few of the Cubsessions book signings.
=One of the enthusiastic supporters of Brent Petersen's foodie novel Truffle Hunt is Vesna Plakinis. Vesna's birthday is this week (October 29). Here's what she had to say about Brent's novel...
“Truffle Hunt” serves up a five-star gourmet feast of murder, hidden historical gems, deep family pride, a dash of humor and romance, topped with delicate slices of heavenly, golden truffles and a glass of nectar from the deepest Eastern European wine cellars. As a gourmand, mushroom hunter, animal lover and world traveler, I ate the delicious book up in just a couple of sittings. Now, all I need is a truffle hunting dog, a simian bartender, and I can I can bring the pages of this book to life in my kitchen!
=Yes, most of the people featured in Randy Merkin's book about Sports Radio are sports heroes. There are however, a few exceptions who rate their own chapter in the book. One of them, Henry Winkler, is celebrating a birthday this week (October 30). In the photo, L-R, John Jurkovic, Henry, Randy, and Carmen DeFalco.
November 1, 2004, Bill Zwecker interviewed Rick Kaempfer and John Swany Swanson in the Chicago Sun Times. You can still read that interview here.
=Rick's radio coaching techniques were featured this week in Barrett's Media. You can read that piece here. Thanks to writer Kevin Robinson for profiling him.
International Authors Day
=November 1 is International Authors Day. You'd think that a boutique Chicago press like Eckhartz Press wouldn't have any international authors. You would be wrong. Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) lives in Portugal right now. Rick Kaempfer (Back in the DDR) and Felitzitas Sudendorf (A Reluctant Immigrant) grew up in Germany. Bob Boone (City U) was a teacher in Germany. Ann Wilson (In Small Boxes) grew up in Hong Kong. Chuck Swirsky (Always a Pleasure) is a citizen of Canada. Leonid Osseny, the illustrator of 1001 Train Rides in Chicago, grew up in Russia, and Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars author Bill Paige lives in Thailand.
