Great Chicago Books Club: Tony Fitzpatrick’s The Sun at the End of the Road: Dispatches from an American Life

Tony Fitzpatrick published his essay collection, The Sun at the End of the Road, just weeks before his death. Tony was celebrated as a visual artist, radio personality, boxer, and actor, but too often his accomplishments as a writer were overlooked. He was a fantastic writer--this last book is proof of that. It's a kind of memoir told in a series of small reflective prose pieces. His publisher, Eckhartz Press, expedited the release date, and because of that Tony was able to experience a small bit of the book's success. As part of the Great Chicago Books Club series, the founders and owners of Eckhartz, Rick Kaempfer and Dave Stern, moderated a discussion about The Sun at the End of the Road. Special guests included Thomas Dyja, Mark Eleveld, Ann Filmer, and Dave Hoekstra.

Thomas Dyja worked in publishing for more than a decade before becoming a writer. Along with editing four anthologies, he’s written three novels, a biography of civil rights pioneer Walter White and The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream, a New York Times Notable book, One Book One Chicago selection, and winner of the 2013 Heartland Prize for non-fiction. A Chicago native, he lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, literary agent Suzanne Gluck.

Mark Eleveld is editor of The Spoken Word Revolution, the top-selling book on the spoken word poetry movement. He is copublisher at EM Press and a former board member of the Midland Authors Society in Chicago.

Ann Filmer moves through the worlds of theater, music, storytelling and visual art, though she has a degree in dance. In 2007 Filmer founded 16th Street, a nationally recognized playwrights' theater and was its Artistic Director for 15 years. There she adapted and directed Tony Fitzpatrick's This Train which inspired a continued collaboration. Filmer went on to adapt and direct Fitzpatrick's Tetralogy at Steppenwolf: This Train, Stations Lost, Nickel History and The Midnight City, as well as The Secret Birds at Poetry Foundation. Married to drummer Barry Bennett, Filmer writes and performs with her band Mrs. Smith and the Present and is in the band Vinto Van Go. During daylight hours, Filmer is Executive Director of Riverside Arts Center.

Dave Hoekstra is a Chicago author-journalist. From 1985 through 2014, he was a columnist-critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he won the 2013 Studs Terkel Community Media Award. He has contributed pieces to the Chicago Reader, New City, and Raw Vision. He has written several books, including Beacons in the Darkness: Hope and Transformation Among America's Community Newspapers, The Supper Club Book: A Celebration of a Midwest Tradition, and The People's Place: Soul Food Restaurants and Reminiscences from The Civil Rights Era to Today.

 

Rick Kaempfer and Dave Stern, moderate a discussion about Tony Fitzpatrick’s The Sun at the End of the Road.