Some Love from Shore Magazine

An excerpt from Pat Colander's Everyday Living blog at Shore Magazine...







Catching up with Shore Columnist, Renaissance Man and World's Best Dad Rick Kaempfer: I'm beginning to lose track but I believe when the The Balding Handbook starts shipping next week (November 16th) it will be the fourth book for his Eckhartz Press, which Rick launched about a year ago. The first was a novel Rick wrote with Brendan Sullivan called “The Living Wills,” a comic morality tale about a bowling team I thoroughly enjoyed. (Can't wait for the movie!) This season, The Balding Handbook by David Stern is going to be a hit for creative gift-givers who are victims—or members of the family of victims---of involuntary hair loss. Stern describes the five-stage grieving process including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. On the cover, the author is shown working through Stage 4. At the end of the process, Rick says, the fully actualized bald man can emerge whole into the light. “Of course, you'll need sunscreen when you get there, but the few extra bucks you shell out to the Tropicana people is a trifle when you consider the incredible life that awaits you after reading this book. Whether you're a fellow sufferer or just a mean person that wants to give this book as a gag gift to that baldy you know (Tee hee, Get it? You're bald.) The Balding Handbook is for you.”

Next up for Eckhartz? The long-awaited story of John Records Landecker, Records Truly is My Middle Name will be published as part of John's 66th birthday celebration in March. With Rick's help---not to mention his other famous friends and colleagues including Bob Sirott, Jonathon Brandmeier, John Gehron, Joey Reynolds, Jan Jeffries, Catherine Johns, Eric Ferguson, Bill Zehme, Kevin Matthews and Don Wade---John has managed to tap into his inner playlist and remember an astonishing amount of what actually happened during the past 40 years. You heard that number correctly Boogie Checkers. John Landecker first conquered nighttime radio in Chicago, oh, I don't know, probably some time in the 1970s or 80s. I mean who cares, right? But Landecker is still going strong in the same time slot from 630 – 11 pm weekdays on Cumulus Media classic hits WLS-FM (94.7) Keep your eye on this blog for more information on this upcoming bestseller. Who knows you could be in it?

John Records Landecker

The mystery radio memoir we've been teasing on our website has been revealed by Robert Feder at TimeOut Chicago. Here is what he wrote...

Next March 28th will be a red-letter day for fans of John Records Landecker. It will mark not only the Chicago radio legend’s 66th birthday but the publication of his new memoir, Records Truly Is My Middle Name. Written by Landecker with longtime producer Rick Kaempfer, it’ll be published by Kaempfer’s Eckhartz Press. “I worked with the guy every single day for 10 years, and never heard some of these stories he tells in this book,” Kaempfer says. Among colleagues and pals who contributed additional stories about the great man are Bob Sirott, Jonathon Brandmeier, John Gehron, Joey Reynolds, Jan Jeffries, Catherine Johns, Eric Ferguson, Bill Zehme, Kevin Matthews and Don Wade. Forty years after he first conquered nighttime radio in Chicago, Landecker is still going strong — from 6:30 to 11pm weekdays on Cumulus Media classic hits WLS-FM (94.7).

We'll have more details in this space in the weeks and months to come.

Countdown to The Balding Handbook

We're currently taking pre-orders for our next book, "The Balding Handbook" by David Stern. It ships on November 16th.

In the meantime, we'll bring you highlights, blurbs, and reasons to buy it.

In the first stage of grieving (Denial), a balding man will go to miraculous lengths to restore his hair. In Chapter 3, David debunks each and every one of them.

However, Stern also notes the 5 methods that have proven to work...


#1: Get bitten by a werewolf.
#2: Wear the enchanted skin of a dead wolf or werewolf.
#3: Drink water from a wolf's footprint.
#4: Eat a wolf's brain (a little cayenne pepper really brings out the flavor).
#5: Have sex with a werewolf and survive.

The Balding Handbook is available for pre-order today!

Countdown to "The Balding Handbook"

We're currently taking pre-orders for our next book, "The Balding Handbook" by David Stern. It ships on November 16th.

In the meantime, we'll bring you highlights, blurbs, and reasons to buy it. Reason #1: Consider this official endorsement from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Radio personality John Records Landecker. Here's what he has to say about it...

"Finally a book for America's most overlooked minority! We are balding hear us roar, in numbers too big to ignore."


Would John Records Landecker steer you wrong? No, he wouldn't.

Pre-order your copy today!

Eckhartz Press Presents: "The Balding Handbook"

Eckhartz Press is thrilled to announce the release of our latest book, "The Balding Handbook" by David Stern. We're currently taking pre-orders. The book ships on November 16th.

What is "The Balding Handbook" all about?

It's modeled after the stages of mourning devised by Elisabeth Kubler Ross in her book "On Death and Dying". "The Balding Handbook" takes the balding man through the five stages of mourning for his hair loss; Denial & Isolation, Anger & Rage, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

David Frank Stern has penned this self-help masterpiece drawing from his many years of anguish and pain.

Stage One, Denial and Isolation- Stern delicately discusses subjects like the Bald Man's Crack (the baseball hat). He takes on the much harder and dangerous head gear such as: fedoras, Indian headresses and over sized sombreros. He also tackles combovers, plugs, wigs and more. That first stage is a painful one.

Stage Two, Anger and Rage - Easily, the most enjoyable stage of the grieving process, Anger and Rage provides a much needed outlet for the balding man. From defacing relative's graves to snapping the heads off GI Joe and Ken dolls, Stern provides healthy, fun and cathartic exercises to hasten the voyage through Stage Two.



Stage Three, Bargaining - Looking to the heavens, desperate bald men turn to a higher power in Stage Three, begging God to give them their hair back. Stern takes his suffering brothers through the entire sales process. From opening ice breakers, to fool proof closing techniques, Stern makes selling the Ultimate Decision Maker easy. The bad news is that if you get an appointment with Him, you're probably dead.

Stage Four, Depression - Stage Four announces it's arrival with the onset of hopelessness. Balding men mired in this stage realize that the loss will be permanent. Seeking other afflicted bald men is the key to a healthy recovery, and Stern will tell you where to find them. He also has uncovered some truly therapeutic and soothing words from the greatest poets of all time.



Stage Five, Acceptance - The painful journey will end here with self actualization. Stern outlines his vision for the eventual utopia that awaits when bald men of the world unite.

"The Balding Handbook" is more than a book. It's going to change the world, $15.95 at a time. Pre-order your copy today.

The Balding Handbook has a website

And it's a pretty good one too.

It includes a preview, a link to social media, a blog, and all the latest information from a totally bald-centric point of view.

Click here to see it.

Some Love for "Down at the Golden Coin"

Eckhartz Press author Kim Strickland gets some love from across the pond, a British book review site had this to say about "Down at the Golden Coin"...

This book is funny, serious, enlightening, and thought provoking. It is a story told of a young woman who is struggling with numerous problems in her life, and who meets her messiah Violet, with blue streaked hair and a nose stud, at just the right moment in a launderette.

It is easy to relate to the main character Annie, who has heard all the self help, spiritual guidance stuff before, read ‘The Secret’, and lots more, and still her life is falling to bits. She is taken through some past life experiences and even jumps ahead to a possible future for a while, which eventually starts to make sense to her about what she has to learn about positive thought and all kinds of forgiveness.

The book is written in a simple straight forward style and is a very comfortable read, albeit, with hints of telepathy and small miracles. There is a small cast of characters in the story but everyone is well drawn and is essential. There are some laugh out loud one liners, i.e. when Xavier’s dad asks to borrow some fabric softener, Annie thinks-

‘If I’d overheard what we were talking about, I’d have turned around and walked away. Taken my chances with static cling.’ Very funny in context.

The ending of the book is a nice twist and leaves you with a satisfied feeling and a smile on your face. If this book doesn’t change your life for the future it might just make you think carefully about how to deal more positively with the present.