Two Book Signings This Week for Today's Chicago Blues

If you live in the southwest suburbs, you're invited to come and see me at two book signings for Today's Chicago Blues this week.

First, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, I'll be at the Barnes & Noble store in Joliet from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The store is located at 2621 Plainfield Rd. across the way from the Louis Joliet Mall.

Next, I'll be at the Joliet Regional Author Fair at the Black Road Branch of the Joliet Public Library, 3395 Black Road, Joliet, on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Come see me, say hi, buy a book, talk about the blues!

"Cover to Cover Time Travel"

See TV Party's enthusiastic endorsement of Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows. Some highlights:

• "It's delightful light reading and I mean that in the best sense."
• "Even though I didn't grow up with these shows...I still found this book to be a zippy read full of highly enjoyable stories about the unforgettable, talented guys and gals who toiled in early TV, entertaining kids of all ages."
• "What a thrilling time to grow up with television, much of which was local programming. Co-authors Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw perfectly capture that golden era with remarkable insight, it's a brilliant ride back to a happier time that reveals so much about the fascinating folks who made television so much fun in the 1950s, '60s and '70s."
• "I can't recommend this book highly enough..."

Halloween Comes Early

WildClaw Theatre Company, Chicago's only horror-centric theatre company, proudly announces its 1st Annual DEATHSCRIBE: Ten Minutes of Terror Radio Play Festival, on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 8:00pm presented at the historic Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave, Chicago. Admission to this one-night-only evening of terror-rific entertainment will be $15 in advance (tickets available through the WildClaw website), $20 at the door

DEATHSCRIBE is the perfect kickoff to the Halloween season: An evening of live horror drama, in which renowned Chicago actors and foley sound artists will perform chilling, thrilling, blood-spilling radio plays carefully crafted to raise the hair on your neck and have you checking under the bed upon your return home. There will be a "Best of the Fest" award, with the winner chosen by a celebrity panel of judges the night of the performance.

And Lake Claremont Press authors, Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw, will be on hand after the show to sign copies of Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie.

Word, er, Acronym of the Day: P.O.S.H.

There are some wonderful Chicago businesses that are a bit too posh to mention in our tome of affordable Chicago things (A Native's Guide to Chicago), but it doesn't mean we can't talk about them here. Especially when they teach us something linguistic and cool, as did P.O.S.H. (631 N. State St.), a boutique for distinctive, eclectic, and sometimes used tableware. Since 1997, they've been bringing such things as vintage hotel silver, restaurant china, and fancy flea market finds to the kitchens and dining rooms of Chicagoans. For instance, right now you can buy a vintage silverplated serving tray once used at the Chicago Athletic Club for $195. (For more on posh clubs, read Lisa Holton's new For Members Only: A History and Guide to Chicago's Oldest Private Clubs.)

So, P.O.S.H. started life as the acronym stamped on the boat tickets of the passengers going on the 30-day trip from England to India at the turn of the last century with the best accommodations. Those would be the ones that best kept them out of the hot sun: Port Out, Starboard Home. It soon came to designate luxury travel in general.

Way Out in Left Field

From Lake Claremont Press friend, Brian A. Bernardoni:

Ernie Banks and Dutchie Caray Help Commemorate Chicago's West Side Grounds, The First Championship Home of the Chicago Cubs

The Way Out in Left Field Society is honored to announce that Chicago Cubs baseball legend and Hall of Fame Shortstop Ernie Banks and Dutchie Caray of the West Side Rooters Social Club will be part of the official ceremony to unveil the West Side Grounds Historic Plaque, and they want you to be there as well: Saturday, September 6, 10 a.m. –Noon, 912 S. Wood Street.

Modern baseball history started here.

It was the home of the first intra-city battle for the World Series, where in 1906, the home-team Chicago Cubs hosted their cross-town rivals, the White Sox. In fact, at the West Side Grounds the Chicago Cubs won four Pennants and back-to-back World Series titles. It was home to "Tinkers to Evers to Chance,” the great double-play combination. The phrase way out in left field was born here.

It all happened at a park at 912 S. Wood called the West Side Grounds, the home to beloved Chicago Cubs between 1893 and 1915. In 1916 the Chicago Cubs moved to Wrigley Field at Clark and Addison after their purchase by Charles Weeghman.

And like most history, it has largely remained a forgotten site. Until now.

For the past three years, a group of die-hard, regular-guy Chicago fans known as The Way Out in Left Field Society* have been raising money and working with the Illinois Historical Society, the Illinois Medical District Commission (IMD), and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to officially mark this historic location.

Their efforts have garnered support from not only the IMD and UIC but also various baseball organizations including the Chicago Cubs, the West Side Rooters Social Club, and the Society of American Baseball Researchers to name a few.
So join Ernie and Dutchie on Saturday, September 6, as supporters and officials from the Illinois Medical District, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Alderman Robert Fioretti, The Way Out of Left Field Society, West Side Rooters Social Club, and the Illinois Historical Society gather at Taylor and Wood, currently a part of Chicago’s Illinois Medical District, to designate the site of the former West Side Grounds with a historic marker. A celebration in keeping with this park and the game we all love follows.

The mission of The Way Out In Left Field Society is to promote, explore, and discover the hidden, forgotten, eccentric, and historical places, people, and occurrences of baseball, and to enjoy the legacy of the game with other fans who are just as passionate, odd, strange, misguided, and peculiar as the people who were considered way out in left field.

* * * * *

* The name is taken from a phrase we believe was born at the West Side Grounds. Although challenged and debated over the years, the most logical explanation for the phrase is that it was first used at the West Side Grounds. A mental hospital called the Neuropsychiatric Institute was located directly behind the left field wall. The Institute housed mental patients who could be heard making strange and bizarre comments within listening distance of players and fans. Thus, if someone said that you were “way out in left field,” the person was questioning your sanity and comparing you with a mental-health patient.