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 Sun at the End of the Road
=Tony Fitzpatrick's book The Sun at the End of the Road is now officially available for pre-order. If you know anything about Tony, you know that he lives and breathes his art. So, it should come as no surprise that he is going to be peforming works from this book on stage at Steppenwolf. More details below...
=Don't forget, Tony's new book is available for pre-order now and is already one of our most popular books of the year.
=Look who we found in the culture tent at the Irish Fest in Naperville this weekend; none other than Celtic Knot author Robert Conlon. What a successful weekend for Bob. He completely sold out of his books!
=Bob was also recognized this week by his Law School alma mater (Depaul) in their monthly newsletter...
Robert P. Conlon ('85) has recently published Celtic Knot - An Orphan's Tale of Survival, Family and Love in Chicago. Robert is a founding partner of Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP. representing businesses in commercial litigation across the country.
=Vicki Atkinson made an appearance this week on The Culture Buzz radio show. Great interview. You can listen to the podcast version of that interview here.
=Author Jeff Reiter has also been out there hustling. He is doing several more interviews this week in print and audio. We will post the links when they become available.
=Another promotional video from the fellas. A Chicago story also filming in New York. Soon we'll have clips from the actual film.
=This week in 1979 (September 22), Kiss performed at the International Amphitheater in Chicago. Naturally, the Rosenbaum brothers were the promoters of this incredible concert, and their kids were all there too. Want some photographic proof? You'll find it in the pages of The Flip Side. It's also here...
=One of the enduring elements of Dan McNeil's excellent Bears book I Bear Witness is the chapter about the Bears legends who have passed away in recent years. Dan does a wonderful job eulogizing them, including one of the all-time greats who passed away this week (September 23) in 2020, Gale Sayers.
=Last week (September 15) was World Lymphoma Awareness Day. John Martucci's book When the Beast Comes for You is about his struggle against that terrible disease. The thing that makes Martucci's book different from the rest of the survivor tales out there is that he is a doctor who had been treating others. Becoming the patient gave him a whole different perspective.
=Eckhartz Press author, and founder of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, Donald G. Evans is celebrating a birthday this week (September 25). Don wrote a great book of short stories for us called An Off-White Christmas. Stories about Christmas time, but not necessarily about the holiday itself. It's a perfect gift. Here's a podcast interview of Don talking about the book.
=Fellow author (also celebrating a birthday this week--September 24) Christine Sneed is a big fan of Don's book. Here's what she had to say about it...
The stories in Don Evans’s excellent collection, An Off-White Christmas, are full of witty, humane moments, vivid characters and settings that range from Chicago to Syracuse to Las Vegas. The people you’ll meet here are your friends, your neighbors, your relatives—in all their flawed beauty and pathos. This book is not to be missed.
=This week in 2018 (September 27) the Eckhartz Press book The Scar Dance was released. It was named a finalist for Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association. This is a Q&A with author William Mansfield around the time of the book's release.
=Don't forget about William's art show, coming up in a few weeks. More details are here.
it’s been one amazing ride — with the best partner and co-pilot I could ever ask for. Here’s to love, laughter, and the next chapter together."=This week in 2016 (September 26), Bobby Skafish released his book of rock and roll interviews, We Have Company. Among his first stops on the publicity tour, WGN-TV.
=This week in 2018, Chet Coppock made an appearance at Blue Island Beer Company to promote his book Your Dime My Dance Floor. Chet held court during a Bears game and offered his commentary. The crowd loved it.
=This week in 2018 (September 24), Richard Reeder signed copies of his book at the legendary north suburban deli Max & Benny's.
Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars
=This week in 2017 (September 25), Bill Paige received this wonderful review by Michael Doherty about his book Everything I Know I Learned from Rock Stars.
--Famed Music Blogger Michael Doherty
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is celebrating a birthday this week (September 25). John Landecker tells a great story in Records Truly Is My Middle Name about Hamill's appearance on his show in 1977. It involved a bit John called "Radio Star Wars". We looked for the audio from that bit, and found it was recorded off-the-air by a radio listener that day. He explains the story quite well, but that's not the reason we're posting it. You can hear the bit itself here. It begins around the 2 minute mark of this video...
Scottie Pippen
=Scottie Pippen's birthday is this week too (September 25). The Bulls Hall of Famer appears in two Eckhartz Press books, Always a Pleasure by Chuck Swirsky, and Behind the Glass by Randy Merkin. (Photographic evidence below.) By the way, have you heard the rumor that Randy's second book is currently being edited? We've heard that too. Wonder which publishing company is putting that out.
=This book by David Fletcher and John Owens isn't only about Dick Allen. It's about the year 1972 in Chicago, and specifically the 1972 White Sox. Every single player on the team is mentioned, as are the coaches. Johnny Sain was the Sox pitching coach that year. He was born this week (September 25) in 1917. This is a photo of Johnny (center) with his two prized Knuckleballers (photo from Topps)
=One of those knuckleballers, Wilbur Wood, was the final interview done for the Dick Allen film which debuted this past weekend at the Boston Film Festival. We'll have photos from the festival next week. This is Wilbur with Dick's son Richard and Chili Dog MVP co-author David Fletcher.
=This week in 2017 (September 26), the music writer for the NWI Times, Tom Lounges, reviewed Mitch Michael's book Doin the Cruise. Here's a little taste of what he said...
Michaels is old-school and defines the term "radio personality" as he tells stories and becomes your surrogate friend on the other side of the dial, the voice you turn to when you need company and want to share a memory or two. Michaels does more than say — "That was ..." and "This is ..."
"I live the music. I tell listeners about the bands, the ins and outs of the music, share a story about the song or something about a concert by that artist I attended years ago. I don’t just talk at my listeners, I talk to them," Michaels said. "I hang out with them and rock right along with everyone who’s listening, because what it all comes down to really is we're all the same. We’re all just fans."
=And that was before Mitch was inducted into the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now he has the hardware.
=Only one Eckhartz Press author ever appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. That was Joel Daly. He was a young soldier when he had his brief walk-on, but it's a great story told in the pages of Joel's book The Daly News. Ed Sullivan was born this week (September 28) in 1901. This is a photo of what Joel looked like at the time he appeared on Sullivan's show...
=This week in 2018 (September 28), Lewis University named their student center after Brother James Gaffney. Gaffney, of course, is the subject of Andrew Langert's Eckhartz Press book.
The Balding Handbook
=The Balding Handbook helped balding men through the five stages of grieving for their hair loss. Because this week is also the anniversary of The Brady Bunch debut (September 26, 1969), it seems like a good week to feature this photo of author David Stern from the Denial stage of the book. Sadly, the book is no longer in print. Blame Rogaine.
Jimmy Kimmel
=To be a publisher is to be an advocate for free speech. We stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
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