West Seattle historian and author, Clay Eals, wrote the definitive biography of musician Steve Goodman, called "Steve Goodman: Facing the Music" in 2007 about the Chicago folk legend. Goodman may be best remembered for his Grammy Award wining song "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie. He wrote three songs about the Chicago Cubs: "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request", "When the Cubs Go Marching In" and "Go, Cubs, Go". Goodman played the Chicago folk club scene in the 60's and early '70's. He died of leukemia at age 36, in 1984.

Eals has just released a new version of his book. He explains, below.

A letter of thanks from Clay Eals:

I am grateful for all of your support for this book, and pleased to let you know that in the five years since its 2007 launch, the first and second printings of "Steve Goodman: Facing the Music" have sold out, and a new version is now available.

It's still an 800-page brick, but thanks to the help of old and new sources and the book's flexible format, there are some changes, of course. The third printing includes 91 new footnotes, more than 40 new photos (for a total of 616) and hundreds of updates and fixes, including several rewritten and enhanced sections with new insights on Goodman's 1975 Grand Canyon hike, his original direction in 1972 on "Election Year Rag," his quickness in the same year in writing "Ballad of Penny Evans" and the 1974 workshop session with David Amram in which "Moby Book" was born. The more recent and continuing reverberations of Goodman are covered as well, including the 2010 renaming of a Chicago post office in his honor.

Two other changes: instead of including a CD with 19 bonus tracks, the book offers the tracks as a free download from the website of my publisher, ECW Press, and the list price of the book has increased to $39.95. Ordering it from my website, however, you still get the CD (or a CD-R), and the price is discounted to $34.50.

As in 2007-2009, when I was fortunate to have the help of musicians across the country in putting together more than 55 reading/music events on behalf of the book, several events already are in store on behalf of the third printing.

Fittingly, the third printing will be launched north of Toronto, Ontario, home of ECW Press, at the 2012 Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, where I'll have two workshops, one with Dave Bidini, author of "Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music and the World in 1972," and one with musicians James Keelaghan, Rob Lutes, Paul Court, Steph Dunn and Mike Hill. For more info on these workshops the weekend of July 7-8, 2012, click here.

Also, mark your calendar for events on tap in my hometown Seattle area this summer and fall, backed by musicians Tom Colwell, Bruce Hanson, Mark Myers and surprise guests. The dates are Sunday, Aug. 15, at The Nursery at Mount Si in North Bend, and Sunday, Oct. 14, at The Historic Admiral Theater in West Seattle. Details to come.

Click here to go to my updated website to order the third printing and for other details, including updated lists of changes, acknowledgments and reviews, along with new bonus photos.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or information to share. Big thanks to everyone -- including my wife, Meg, and ECW Press -- for making it possible for "Steve Goodman: Facing the Music" to have new life.