It turns out I was wrong. The book is written by famous New York Times sportswriter Gerald Eskenazi, and he told me just how important the book was in it's time (1969):
I have yet to see the book in person. The book features the photography of Ken Regan."When it came out, it sold about 20,000 copies at a (then) pricey $12.95. It was, in fact, the first really good-looking, and serious, big picture book on the sport. Got big play in the Gazette, the Globe and Mail, The New York Times--and a host of radio and television appearances. That led to five other hockey books in quick succession. The book came out just as hockey was bouncing into the 20th Century, a bit late. Expansion was on its way (a few years later, I updated the book into "The Fastest Sport")."
Eskenazi wrote several other hockey books, including A Thinking Man's Guide To Pro Hockey, Hockey Is My Life (Phil Esposito's 1972 autobiography) and The Derek Sanderson Nobody Knows (1973).
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1 comment:
Great post Joe, this book is a real find. I'm particularly glad that you posted a picture of the front cover -- my local library's copy had been rebound and doesn't preserve the original cover photo.
Lot of hockey history in here, including details of the 1967 expansion. There's a photo taken in the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal showing the assembled league officials, team representatives, and media people. The Stanley Cup is displayed off to one side. I didn't know this, but Clarence Campbell picked the draft order by drawing ballots out of the Stanley Cup itself. I didn't realize the Cup was ever used for this kind of thing; I don't remember seeing it at any of the more recent lotteries or expansions.
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