Local man publishes second novel

It's all a mystery to Bruce Steinberg of St. Charles -- except for the good reviews his soon-to-be-released book "River Ghosts" has received.

Steinberg, a former Kane County prosecutor and public defender now in private practice in Batavia, provides a summary of his book, authored under his pseudonym of B.R. Robb.

"I'm a middle-aged white Jewish guy writing from the point of view of a biracial man in his 20s in the mystery genre, dealing with racial prejudice, religious proselytizing, the loss and regaining of the ability to believe in faith and friendship," Steinberg said. "And it's all wrapped up in the classic mystery genre."

The story behind "River Ghosts" is quite interesting, as it tells the tale of Richard Hill, who as a young boy saw his white mother raped and murdered and his black father murdered. But the man accused of the crime is released through new DNA evidence, and he comes back to help Hill track down the real killer.

Steinberg's book will be released by Five Star, which he described as a small publishing company "with a focus on its library niche."

Information about the book is available on amazon.com.

It is the second published book by Steinberg -- who has written stories for the Daily Herald -- and he has high hopes.

"Perhaps this is the little book that could, but I don't know," said Steinberg, who admitted he doesn't like tooting his own horn. "But it is a necessary evil."

Another happy author: Last year I wrote about Gina Olszowski of Batavia and the book she penned, titled "Now Coming to a Town Near You," about the effects of urban sprawl.

The year-and-a-half project culminated in the book being available online and on some bookshelves last month.

"I am trying to get the book into shops, and I'm starting in Geneva and working my way out," said Olszowski, who works in the Graham's 18 coffee shop in Geneva, where she has already sold about 60 books.

"It's doing real well in Graham's, but I also have copies in Kiss the Sky and Inglenook Pantry," Olszowski said.

As of last week, she had already sold 150 books.

Information about the book is available online at www.atownnearyou.com.

Visit the village: Organizers of the birthday celebration of Ekwabet, the Pottawatomi Indian statue that has graced the banks of the Fox River in St. Charles for 20 years, want area residents to understand the look and feel of an Indian village in the Fox Valley.

Work started Tuesday as Nick Hockings, a member of the Lake Superior Ojibwe tribe, began to recreate a Native American summer village on the south end of Pottawatomie Park. He'll be working on the project all week, leading up to Saturday's 2 p.m. birthday party celebrating the statue and the Native American heritage of this region.

Thanks go out to the many organizations that supported this celebration, but mostly to Guy Bellaver, the sculptor of Ekwabet, and his wife Elizabeth, who have really spearheaded this interesting week-long project that displays a community's pride and gratitude about its past and offers a fun history lesson.

dheun@sbcglobal.net