With baseball season in full swing, the Writers-World Series is proud to feature a book about the sport's beloved 2016 champs, The Chicago Cubs.
Cubsessions: Famous Fans of Chicago’s North Side Baseball Team tells the story of divergent life paths – the roads taken, the failures experienced, and the successes reached – and how those paths all come together for a collective passion.
Today we talk with Becky Sarwate who co-authored the book along with Randy Richardson. "We make a great team," Becky says. "I’m the more outspoken and blunt executor. Randy is the thinker, the 'good cop' and strategist. If we were players on the Cubs, we might be known as Becky 'The Bull' and 'Professor' Randy. "
Names: Becky Sarwate and Randy Richardson.
Hometeam: Becky was born and raised in Chicago and lives within walking distance of Wrigley Field with husband Bob and two cats. Randy, who moved to the Chicago area from a Milwaukee suburb, lives in Evanston with his wife, son and two cats. 
Position: Becky is Enterprise Marketing and Communications Advisor at TransUnion, an adjunct English instructor at Northeastern Illinois University, a freelance journalist, theater critic, blogger, political columnist and sports writer. Randy is an attorney, journalist and founding member/first president of the Chicago Writers Association.
Batting average: Cubsessions: Famous Fans of Chicago’s North Side Baseball Team is their first joint project. Randy is also the author of two novels, Cheeseland and Lost in the Ivy, both from Eckhartz Press
Websites:
Opening pitch:
The Cubs are more than just a baseball team to those who root for them. From the heartaches of 1969 and 2003 to the pure joy of 2016, emotional ties bind fans of Chicago’s North Side ball club. Some of the team’s most famous fans, including Bob Newhart, Pat Brickhouse, Dennis Franz, Nick Offerman, Joe Mantegna, Scott Turow, Bill Kurtis, and many others, share just what it means to bleed Cubbie blue.
Considering the positions on a baseball team -- such as catcher, shortstop, left field, etc. -- which best describes the way you write and why? I would call myself an ace reliever. My work is quick, precise and usually effective. My sister has promoted me as the best content and copy editor in town. Randy is the experienced manager. He’s been to the publishing “big game” before and had much to teach me. He's also a terrific, multi-tasking project coordinator. I would want him leading any team of which I am part.
Tell us about your surprise drafting to the big leagues: I will never forget the March 2017 late afternoon that Randy and I sat enjoying happy hour drinks at the G-Man in Wrigleyville. I was excited about Randy's new Cubs book project with Eckhartz Press and thought myself bold in offering to serve as a manuscript reader. I was literally speechless when Randy countered with a question, "How about being co-author?" It's an unbelievable dream moment frozen in time. I can never thank him enough for trusting me and inviting me along to share this amazing ride.
No one wins a game alone. Who’s on your team?
It truly took a village to bring this project from concept to reality in just 12 months. After all, neither of us is a full-time author. The team at Eckhartz Press pitched the idea for the book to Randy and supported us by offering potential interview subjects and contact information, trusted us enough not to micromanage the project, and then of course published the manuscript.
It truly took a village to bring this project from concept to reality in just 12 months. After all, neither of us is a full-time author. The team at Eckhartz Press pitched the idea for the book to Randy and supported us by offering potential interview subjects and contact information, trusted us enough not to micromanage the project, and then of course published the manuscript.
My trusted and invaluable assistant Brian Walsh did so much leg work to make many of these amazing conversations happen. Randy and I always enjoy unbelievable support from our spouses and families, as well as the twin literary communities of which we’re both members – the Illinois Woman’s Press Association and Chicago Writers Association. And finally without the enthusiasm and participation of our interviewees, who shared their many Cubs hopes, dreams and heartaches, there would literally be no book.
So what’s your game plan?
As this project is a dream come true for Randy and I, we’re thrilled to pay it forward by donating all author proceeds to our three charity partners: Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities (CBCC), Scoreboard Charities (SC), and the Chicago Baseball Museum (CBM). CBCC and SC help fund cancer research and patient care programs at Chicago-area hospitals, and supporting services to empower kids with cancer. CBM’s mission is to collect, preserve, document, research, and interpret artifacts and events which are associated with the legacy, evolution and contemporary life of Chicago baseball. All three are federally-registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible charitable organizations.
We have a number of upcoming signings and events that will help us sell this unique book and raise all the money we can for these worth causes:
My mother is a huge Cubs fans. I think she might like this book.
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