Author Grant Lawrence will be sharing stories from his new book, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie, and showing a short film and slideshow at the Harbourfront library.
In addition to being a CBC host, an indie-rock alumnus and the award-winning author of the bestselling book, Adventures in Solitude, Lawrence has another claim to fame: as a baby, he spent part of a plane ride on Bobby Orr’s lap.
Grant, his parents, Orr and the rest of the Canadian hockey team were on their way to Game 3 of the famous Summit Series between the Soviet Union and Canada in 1972, during the height of the Cold War. It was at this tender age that Lawrence’s lifelong entanglement with hockey began.
His new book, The Lonely End of the Rink, is a combination of hockey lore, Canadian music history and hilarious personal anecdotes. It is a side-splitting account of how hockey has played into various periods of Lawrence’s life, first as a knee-brace-wearing bully-magnet, then a rock star, and finally a CBC broadcaster.
Not only does the book contain colourful tales about the history of the NHL, it is also chock full of stories about many Canadian celebrities, including comedians, musicians and actors, whose lives have been affected by the game.
Lawrence is a music journalist and host with CBC Radio. Previously, Lawrence was the lead singer of the internationally acclaimed band, The Smugglers. He is also the goalie of the Vancouver arts-based beer league hockey team the Vancouver Flying Vees.
Lawrence makes his appearance at the library Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. For more information, please visit www.grantlawrence.ca.
To reserve a copy, stop by Nanaimo Maps and Charts at 8 Church St., or call the store at 250-754-2513.