Media Notebook--5-3-24

MEDIA NOTEBOOK

A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago.

RADIO/PODCASTS

 

 

*Andy Chanley

=This month’s Illinois Entertainer is out and includes my interview with the new afternoon man at WXRT, Andy Chanley. You can read it here.

 

 

*Bob Stroud Nominated for Radio Hall of Fame

=As he should be. The full list is here.

*Throwback 100.3

=It's been a while since we had a brand new format on Chicago's radio dial, but we have one now. WSHE, which had underwhelming numbers (#21 in the ratings), is changing formats. The on-air lineup remains the same, but now they will be playing "Millennial Hits" from the 1990s through the 2010s. Radio Insight has more. 

*Dan Proft’s $20 Million Meeting with Darren Bailey

=Rick Pearson has the story in the Tribune about the conservative radio talk show host Dan Proft (WIND-AM 560) who dangled an envelope allegedly containing $20 million from conservative donor Richard Uihlein to Darren Bailey (the 2022 Republican candidate for Illinois governor). Read the full story here.

 

 

*AM Radio in Vehicles

= Melody Spann Cooper, the Chairwoman and CEO of Chicago’s Midway Broadcasting Corporation (owner of WVON), testified to Congress this week on behalf of the AM Radio in Vehicles bill. Her opening statement is here.

=Here’s some more info about the hearing, and how it was received.

=There is now a Senate super-majority in favor of it.

 

 

*Podcast Corner

=What guests did you get on your podcast this week? This is who Smartless got on theirs…

 

 

*Ex-Chicago Radio

=A few former Chicago radio hosts are killing it in Cincinnati. Mike McConnell (formerly of WGN) is hosting mornings, Bill Cunningham (formerly WGN) hosts middays, and Lance McAllister (formerly WMVP) hosts evenings at the top rated WLW.

 

 

*Rest in Peace

=Duane Eddy

The twangy guitarist was 86.

 

 

*The Loop Files

=On Wednesday evening I gave a presentation about The Loop Files at the ELA Public Library in Lake Zurich. Thanks to everyone who came out for the event. We had a great crowd. Fellow Loopers Doug Bensing and Bob Heymann were both there too.

=Next up: Pollyanna Brewing Company in Roselle, Illinois. I’ll be there next Saturday, May 11, from 3pm—7pm. Really looking forward to this one. A few ex-Loopers promise to be there, including WGN-TV’s Jeff Hoover. Be sure to come on out. Did I mention they have beer there?

 

 

MEDIA BIRTHDAYS/MILESTONES

 

*April 28—Dan Fabian birthday

=Fabian served as the VP/General Manager of WGN during some of their most successful years. He left in 1996, 30 years after he started working at the station.

 

*April 28--Terri Hemmert birthday

=WXRT's all-time favorite. Still going strong at 93.1 FM. I never miss her Breakfast with the Beatles program.

 

*April 29—Lee Abrams birthday

=Lee is one of the most successful rock radio programmers of all-time. He was the man who created the original Loop in the 1970s. Abrams recounts that experience nicely here. 

 

*April 29—Lisa Kosty birthday

=Lisa is the midday host at WSHE-FM. She previously worked for Total Traffic Network and CBS Radio.

 

*April 29—Steve Fisher birthday

=When Steve worked at Q-101 in the early 1990s, he was one of the first people I interviewed. At the time I was writing for Chicago Advertising & Media magazine. The last time I interviewed Fisher, he worked at Fresh-FM in 2010. Steve has since left the radio business and is a successful real estate agent.

 

*April 29, 1974—Phil Donahue Arrives in Chicago

=His show had been a hit in Dayton, but his move to Chicago helped propel him to the bigtime. He remained here until 1985.

*April 29, 1983—Lee Elia Day

=It’s the third year we’re celebrating the most memorable rant in history without the only man who recorded it, Les Grobstein. The fully unbleeped tape is here on YouTube. Obviously, I don’t need to remind you this clip is NSFW. Don’t click on it if you are dainty.

 

 

*April 29, 1997—Mike Royko death

=The greatest Chicago newspaper columnist of all-time died on this day in 1997. Royko was only 65 years old. The Pulitzer Prize winner wrote for all three major Chicago dailies, The Daily News, The Sun Times, and The Chicago Tribune. One of his favorite topics of discussion was the Cubs. I wrote about that for my Cubs website Just One Bad Century.

 

*April 30—Chet Coppock birthday

=The big Bohunk would have been celebrating his birthday this week. Hard to believe he’s been gone five years already. My last official interview with him for Illinois Entertainer goes back to 2014.

 

*April 30--Scott Miller birthday

=Scott was part of the Pete McMurray show on WGN and the Drive and is now hosting his own show in downstate Illinois. I interviewed him about his new show in 2020 for Illinois Entertainer.

 

*April 30—Steve Leventhal birthday

=Steve is the founder of InternetFM and Acid Flashback Radio and is currently working on a book about his time in college at North Carolina University in 1982. I interviewed Steve for Illinois Entertainer last year. 

 

*May 1—Mike Murphy birthday

=Murphy is one of the deans of the sports talk world in Chicago, having worked at both sports talk stations in town. He is also one of the original Bleacher Bums from the memorable 1969 Chicago Cubs season. Here’s a little Murphy trivia: He caught the only career home run hit by 1968 Cub Jose Arcia. (That’s in my EveryCubEver book. 6th edition just came out.)

 

*May 1—Max Robinson birthday

=Max was an ABC network news anchor in the late 70s/early 80s based out of Chicago, part of a three-man anchor team that included Peter Jennings and Frank Reynolds. He was a trailblazer for other African-Americans in the TV news business. Max passed away in 1988, due to complications from AIDS. He was only 49 years old.

 

*May 1, 1997--Carol Marin resigns from Channel 5

=This was the top story in Chicago when it happened. Marin resigned after Jerry Springer was named to be a commentator on the 10:00 Newscast. Her fellow anchor Ron Magers resigned shortly thereafter.

 

*May 2, 1960—WLS becomes a rock station

=This was the most momentous event in Chicago radio at the time. It remained one of the city’s powerhouse stations for the next three decades. I’ve been very fortunate over the years to speak with lots of those WLS greats, my childhood heroes. I’ve accumulated highlights of some of them here, including Clark Weber, Ron Riley, Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards, Bob Sirott, Fred Winston, John Records Landecker and more.

 

*May 2—Larry Potash birthday

=The co-anchor of the WGN Morning News and the host of Backstory is one of the biggest stars on the local television scene. I interviewed him on my podcast a few years ago. It’s here if you’d like to listen to it. The interview begins at the 21:40 mark.

 

*May 2—Don Beno birthday

=Don worked in Chicago radio, but the reason I interviewed him last year for Illinois Entertainer is his incredible Facebook page Chicago Radio Archives and Memories. Read all about that here.

 

*May 2—Wayne Randazzo birthday

=Randazzo got his start here at the Score (670 AM) but turned his Kane County Cougars play-by-play gig into a big-league job. He was the play-by-play man for the New York Mets for a few years before recently taking a similar job with the LA Angels. The St. Charles East (and North Central College) grad is also involved in the Italian Sports Hall of Fame.

 

*May 2—Donn Pearlman birthday

=The 25-year NewsRadio WBBM man now lives in Vegas. He has been running his own PR firm for decades.

 

*May 3—Jim Modelski birthday

=For years Jim was Chet Coppock’s right hand man at Coppock on Sports and had a big hand in the formative years of WMVP. He’s a success now in the world of finance, but he also made his mark in radio. (Photo of former "boyquarium" members Mike Davis, Jim Modelski, and Tom Serritella with their old boss Chet Coppock at a 2018 book signing)

*May 3—Greg Gumbel birthday

=The pride of Hyde Park became a WMAQ-TV weekend sports anchor before transforming himself into one of the biggest names in sports broadcasting. Greg is the Sox-fan half of the Gumbel brothers, seen below interviewing Steve Dahl at Comiskey during Disco Demolition. Bryant is the Cubs fan.

 

*May 3, 1971—NPR debuts “All Things Considered”

=The man at the microphone for the first show was Robert Conley. He had been a correspondent for The New York Times and The Huntley/Brinkley report on NBC. That first show was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

 

*May 3—Erin Carman Birthday

=Erin hosts the midday show at WLS-FM every weekday. She previously also hosted shows at WLUP, WTMX, and K-Hits.

 

*May 3—Wes Bleed birthday

=Bleed spent 14 years in the WGN Radio newsroom, including several years as the news director. He is currently the Membership, Marketing, and Communications Director at Water Quality Association.

 

*May 4—George Will birthday

=George’s only real connection to Chicago is his love of the Cubs. The long-time political pundit for ABC News and columnist for the Washington Post is a Pulitzer Prize winner. His connection to the Cubs is from his boyhood years growing up in downstate Illinois. (Photo: George and I displaying our Cubs bonafides)

 

TV/STREAMING

 

*CW Programming Moves from WCIU to WGN-TV

=Nexstar announced the move this week. The actual programming will begin on September 1. Broadcasting & Cable has the full details.

 

*WCIU Returns to “The U”

=So what is WCIU doing? They are going back to the U. Weigel Broadcasting Vice Chairman Neal Sabin said this week in a station release: “Our highest-rated programming remains on The U, and we are adding well-known stars including Jaleel White, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Billy Gardell. As it relates to TV entertainment, we once again will have Chicago saying that ‘The U’z got it!’”

 

 

*John Mulaney in Chicago

=The latest episode of David Letterman’s show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” features John Mulaney. Letterman and Mulaney went to several Chicago locations, including St. Ignatius. The Sun Times has the story.

 

*Daily Show Coming to Chicago

=The show plans on coming to Chicago this year for the Democratic National Convention. Variety has more information.

 

*CBS News

=They brought home some hardware this week…

 

 

*CBS Sports

=Changes in the CBS NFL studio show this coming season. Bye Bye Boomer and Phil. Hello Matt Ryan. Details here. Don’t worry about Boomer. He’s still hosting mornings at WFAN in New York.

 

 

*Paramount CEO Steps Down

=A merger is nigh, and Bob Bakish, former CEO of Paramount, is reading the room. He’s also walking away with more than $50 million in severance. 

 

 

*ABC News Fires Weatherman

=Rob Marciano had been part of the Good Morning America and World News Tonight team since 2014. Why was he fired? According to the New York Post, he was dealing with anger issues. Also, according to the New York Post (I know, I know), he feuded with fellow ABC meteorologist Ginger Zee.

 

 

*Dan Schneider Sues “Quiet on the Set” Producers

=Schneider was savaged in the documentary about the misconduct on the sets of the kid shows he oversaw. He even admits to most of the behavior, but he’s suing the producers for defamation because of the insinuation he sexually abused kids, which he strongly denies. Deadline has the story. 

 

 

*2024 Tony Nominees

=The New York Daily News has the complete list.

 

 

*Colin Jost’s Best Jokes

=He didn’t get great reviews for his performance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Read his best jokes here, and judge for yourself. 

 

 

*Cable News Corner

=Poppy Harlow leaves CNN

=OAN retracts untrue Michael Cohen story

=Hunter Biden threatened to sue Fox News, which led to Fox News taking the Hunter Biden mock-trial mini-series off their streaming site. Yes, they really had a mock-trial mini-series. Journalism.

=Fox News is trying its hand at comedy, as well. Variety has the story. 

 

 

PRINT/DIGITAL

 

*Jim Baumann Retiring

=The executive editor of the Daily Herald (and the writer of the Grammar Moses column) Jim Baumann is retiring. This is his last column. His last day is May 10. Of course, Jim wrote a book featuring his best columns a few years ago for Eckhartz Press. In his retirement, Jim is going to work on writing the great American novel.

=The new executive editor will be Lisa Miner. She has been with the paper since 1984, and the managing editor since 2021. Here’s what Baumann said about her…“We’ve hidden Lisa’s light under a bushel for too long. She has all the attributes of a newsroom leader: she’s a great journalist, she leads by example and she is tremendously organized. First and foremost, she is compassionate and is sensitive to the needs of the communities we serve. I wouldn’t be leaving unless I knew the paper would be in good hands.”

 

*Paul Farhi

=Fahri was the media writer for the Washington Post in 2022 when he tweeted something that led to his ouster. It was about...the Washington Post. This week he was exonerated by the courts and won a legal battle against his old paper. Mediaite has the story.

*Chicago Tribune Sueing OpenAI and Microsoft

=The NY Daily News, the Orlando Sentinel, the San Jose Mercury News, and four other newspapers are also part of the lawsuit. They claim that AI trained on their content without compensating them for it.

As always, if you have any media story you’d like to share or think that I might be interested in sharing, drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com. If you're in Chicago media and wondering why I didn't mention your birthday, it's probably because I don't know it. Drop me a line and let me know and I'll put you on my calendar.

20 Years: Free Father Knows Nothing Excerpt--21st Century Roadtrips

 

This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.

This piece was a SHORE Magazine cover story from the May 2007 issue, and was later featured in my 2014 Eckhartz Press book "Father Knows Nothing".

My boys are now 28, 26, and 21 and would be humiliated by this article. Did that stop me from posting it? No, it did not.

"21st Century Roadtrips"

I have a family of five. When it comes time for vacation, flying is no longer a realistic option. Until last year, I managed to maintain my sanity by confining all of our trips to the four nearest states.

Last year, however, we were invited to visit my aunt and uncle in Georgia.

“You know that means a 14-hour drive in the car, right?” I asked my pleading, begging children.

“Yes!”

“And you won’t complain and whine and give me a 14-hour headache?” I asked.

“No!” they all promised.

I was weak. I consented.

Expert Advice

I called up Spike Manton to get his opinion on the subject. Spike co-wrote a very touching play about the traditional family road rip called “Leaving Iowa.” It’s a subject he has studied for years.

I asked him if this was going to be the nightmare I remembered from the family vacations of my youth.

“Seatbelts have changed everything,” he answered. “From 1945 until 1980, the only thing that changed for the family vacation was the size of the paneling on the station wagon. Today’s kids will never know the insanity of hanging out the back window throwing fruit at the trucker behind you, and then climbing over three seats to ride on Dad’s lap to help him steer, all while traveling 65 mph down the highway. How can you have a real fight in the back seat if you are strapped in place like a hostage?”

“What about technology?” I asked.

“That too,” he said. “DVD players and Gameboys have forever replaced Slug Bug, the License Plate Game, and the Alphabet Game,” he said. “My nephews once arrived at my home at the end of a 16-hour road trip, and stayed in the car for an extra twenty minutes to finish a game on their Gameboy.”

That sounded like the solution for me. Seatbelts and technology were going to save me.

Hitting the Road

I wasn’t thinking about road trips when I opted not to take the DVD option on my minivan a few years ago. Whoops.

Luckily for me, they make portable players now, so I bought one with a big enough monitor for all three kids to see, and placed it in the best viewing location.

Among the other items packed into the minivan for this trip:

*Ten movies

*Three handheld video games (Gameboy DS)

*Three sets of headphones so Dad doesn’t have to hear anything

*A cooler full of drinks and food

*A backpack full of toys, books, and games for each boy

*My sister

I really thought we had everything covered.

We had three boys (ages 10, 7, & 3), and three adults. We had entertainment and food. We left at 3:00 in the morning so that they could sleep for the first three hours.

What could go wrong, right?

The successes

The biggest successes were thanks to two of the items we brought along with us: the DVD player and the headphones.

I highly recommend both of them.

The boys watched two Pokemon movies (which normally would have made my skin crawl), but I didn’t have to hear a thing except for an occasional laugh accompanied by a euphoric “OH MEOWTH! YOU CRACK ME UP!”

That was four hours of bliss.

The mistakes

Mistake #1: The 3:00 AM departure time

This sounded like such a good idea. Unfortunately, the boys were so excited about vacation they didn’t sleep a wink. My three-year-old’s eyes were wide open the whole time. By 9:00 AM, I was the only one who wanted to sleep, and I was driving.

Mistake #2: Most toys/games/activities/books can cause carsickness

Somewhere in the middle of rural Georgia, I looked in the rearview mirror at my unbelievably pale eight-year-old. He was holding his stomach.

“Do you feel OK?” I asked.

“No,” he told me.

My wife sprinted into the backseat with a plastic baggie—but she was moments too late for the first gush. We pulled off at the next exit and added thirty minutes to our trip by cleaning off the seat and his pants, and finding something else for him to wear.

Mistake #3: Not realizing that even potty-trained 3- year-olds won’t “go” at public bathrooms.

On the way home we had to stop for gas about three hours away from home. All three boys were ordered to take care of business at the gas station. The two older boys did as they were told, but the youngster took one look at the bathroom and declared that he didn’t need to.

“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked.

“I’m sure, Dad,” he said.

I gambled that he was telling the truth. We were about an hour away from home when Sean’s stomach pains made him start crying out.

“I have to poop!” he said.

His painful cries let us know there was no way he could make it all the way home, so I pulled off the highway as soon as I could. The only semi-appropriate place near the exit was a Walgreen’s Pharmacy. When my wife and son finally emerged from Walgreen’s twenty minutes later, her annoyed expression told me the whole story.

“He promises he can make it home,” she said through gritted teeth.

“No he can’t,” I said.

“I know,” she conceded. She held up a pull-up diaper. “What do you think?”

It was our only choice. For the next thirty minutes we tried to tune out the grunting, groaning, whining, moaning child determined to prove he could make it home. When his natural cheerfulness suddenly returned, we knew the problem had passed.

Back Home

When we pulled into the driveway, I heaved a sigh of relief. I know it sounds like it was horrible, but I don’t look at it that way. We survived. I consider any trip that involves only one vomit and one #2 emergency a rousing success.

I may even do it again someday.

When I drive my oldest son to college.

Studio Walls--May 1, 2024

 

A weekly update/preview of my latest podcasts, and a look back at some of my previous audio work from this week in history over the past 40+ years.

Here are a few from the archives...

April 28, 2007—Severance video tease

April 28--Jay Leno's birthday. I told my memorable Jay Leno story in this episode of Minutia Men.  

April 28--David Pollock birthday. We talked to the star of Bad News Bears about five years ago.  

April 29—Richard Epcar birthday. The voice over artist superstar was featured on this episode of Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.  

April 29—Jerry Seinfeld birthday. Our old friend Jay Shatz has a great story about meeting Jerry in the 1980s. It takes a twist you will not expect.  

April 30--Al Lewis birthday. Yes, I knew Grandpa Munster. Yes, he was a total nutball. I told the story in this episode.  

April 30--Chet Coppock birthday. The king of Chicago sports talk radio became an Eckhartz Press author, and a Minutia Men guest. 

April 30, 1945—Adolf Hitler kills himself and Eva Braun. Would you believe we have a guest who has a story to tell about that day? Antony Penrose 

May 1—National School Principal’s day. Neil Steinberg story about the principal he really upset in a column.

May 1, 1997 Carol Marin resigns from Channel 5 to protest Jerry Springer's hiring. Her co-anchor Ron Magers appears on our morning show on Oldies 104.3 (audio)  It was memorable.

May 1, 1891—Harvey, Illinois founded. Harvey's hometown boy Tom Dreesen told us a story about the danger of becoming a Cubs fan from Harvey

May 1, 1893—Cracker Jacks unveiled at Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Harry Caray was not a fan.

May 2--Larry Potash birthday. Larry appeared on the show about six years ago.  

May 2—Franke Previte birthday. Yes, Frankie was once on the show as well.  

May 3, 2023—Last episode of The Goldbergs aired. Hayley Orrantia, who played Erica on the show, came on Minutia Men Celebrity interview shortly after the last episode aired. 

May 3, 1979--The San Diego Chicken was fired by KGB-Radio. It was just the beginning of a great career for Ted Giannoulus (San Diego Chicken), who told us all about it. 

May 3, 1971—All Things Considered debuts on NPR. One of the contributors to that show over the years was Aaron Freeman. He was one of our favorite interviewees. 

May 4, 1970--The Kent State Massacre. We talked to John Filo, the man who took the Pulitzer Prize winning photo that day.  

Publishing Portal--April 30, 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.

*Author Birthday!

=April 30 would have been the birthday of Eckhartz Press author Chet Coppock, who wrote his last (and most highly regarded) book Your Dime, My Dance Floor for us in 2018. Chet died the following year, but as long as Eckhartz Press is in business, Chet's words and photos live on...

The Loop Files

=This week: The Loop goes somewhere it's never been before! A public library. Rick Kaempfer will be appearing at the Ela Public Library in Lake Zurich on May 1 from 7-8pm. Find out more information about it here.

=Next weekend: May 11. Another one that is destined to bring out the fellow Loopers. Jeff Hoover from the WGN-TV morning news (a former Looper himself) is helping to host this party.

=Three of the contributors to the Loop Files are celebrating birthdays this week. Lee Abrams (April 29) was the man who created the Graffiti Loop era (middle of first photo) and Larry Wert (April 30) was the boss man during the second heyday of the Loop (in the late 80s/early 90s). In addition, Greg Gumbel (May 3) was on  hand during the most famous moment in Loop history, Disco Demolition. That's Greg below interviewing Steve Dahl that day at Comiskey Park.

Grammar Moses

=Jim Baumann has been the executive editor of the Daily Herald for the past few years. This week he announced  in his final Grammar Moses column that he was retiring from the paper, effective May 10. Jim says he'll be working on the great American novel in his retirement. Maybe that will lead to his second Eckhartz Press book.

Surviving Sue

=Vicki Atkinson will be appearing next week in Palos Heights. More information about that upcoming appearance here.

Mob Adjacent

=The man who ran the mob in Chicago for decades, Tony Accardo, would have been celebrating a birthday this week. He's not around anymore, but he certainly makes a few appearances in the Eckhartz Press book Mob Adjacent, by Jeffrey and Michael Gentile. 

*Happy Anniversary!

=Two Eckhartz Press books were released this week in 2020, Grace Fights Covid 19 by Ken Korber (May 1) and The Unplanned Life by Roger Badesch (May 3). This Q&A of Roger appeared on our website that week.

 EveryCubEver

=This week in 2019, the first edition of EveryCubEver was released. Author Rick Kaempfer appeared on WGN-TV Morning News doing a Cubs bit with Larry Potash, Mike Toomey, Pat Tomasulo, and Dean Richards. It led to Rick getting his own IMDB page. That same week the EveryCubEver launch party was held at Moretti's in Mt. Prospect. If you were one of the many thousands who bought that first edition, it's definitely time to update. There are 600 more entries in the 6th edition that came out this month.

 Monkey in the Middle

=This week in 2016, Dobie Maxwell appeared on Mancow's show on the Loop. It was exactly ten years after Dobie's biggest fan Drew Olson joined OnMilwaukee.com. This is what Drew had to say about Dobie and his book...

• “If you grew up in Milwaukee in the 1970s or ’80s, you knew about Samson – the huge, famous and hugely famous gorilla that resided at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Samson, who now resides in that “jungle in the sky,” thrilled generations of visitors, even when he was eating and sleeping. Dobie Maxwell’s book, Monkey in the Middle, tells the tale of a much lesser-known gorilla / bank robber in our shared hometown. Once you start reading this story, you might not feel like eating or sleeping until you’ve finished. It’s a story of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and conscience told by a comedian with a knack for pointing out absurdly funny moments during a white-knuckle rollercoaster ride.”

  Drew Olson | On-air host/ESPN Wisconsin

 Chasing the Lost City

=This week in 2018, Eckhartz Press author Tom Weinberg appeared on Chicago Tonight to talk about his fascinating new book Chasing the Lost City...

Records Truly Is My Middle Name

=This week in 2013, John Landecker & Rick Kaempfer were interviewed by the Daily Herald about Landecker's memoir Records Truly Is My Middle Name. 

Cheeseland

=This is the anniversary (April 28) of author Frederick Lee Brooke debuting his series of mystery books. Brooke is a big fan of Eckhartz Press author Randy Richardson's 2012 novel Cheeseland. Here's what he had to say about it...

• If you liked Larry McMurtry’s The Last Picture Show, you’ll love Cheeseland, Chicago’s answer to that Texas classic. Highly recommended!

  Frederick Lee Brooke, the Annie Ogden Mysteries

In Small Boxes

=Author Jim Korkoris (born May 4) is a fan of fellow author Ann Wilson's memoir In Small Boxes. This is what he had to say about her Eckhartz Press book...

• At times, poignant, sad and very funny. A wonderfully unique coming of age story. We will all see pieces of ourselves and our lives
  in this book.

  — Jim Kokoris, author of four novels including It’s. Nice. Outside.

Grun Weiss Vor!

=One of the biggest stars to ever play for Green White Soccer Club, Illinois Soccer Hall of Famer Joe Filian is celebrating a birthday this week (May 1). Joe is featured prominently in the book Grun Weiss Vor, including this photo from his time on the New York Cosmos.

 

Doin the Cruise

=This week marks the anniversary of the Kent State Massacre (May 4, 1970). One of our authors was actually there that day, and wrote about it in his memoir Doin the Cruise, Mitch Michaels. Mitch was already in radio in those days and it would be just a few short years later when he arrived on the dial in Chicago. 

 

Rick and Dave

=During the pandemic Eckhartz Press publishers Rick Kaempfer and David Stern were Zoom-interviewed by the Chicago Writers Association about Eckhartz Press. This interviewed happened this week (May 2) in 2021.