THAT HE WAS BOOED AND SHUNNED; that people brought watermelons to the game; that he fought on. Those are the details I heard on public radio that made me come home and pull up the story and read it for myself. These things happened in my country, during sporting events in the 1980s. That’s right – the 1980s — and in a sport that remains stubbornly white to this day. Is this why I read memoir? In part, it is.
The first black American NHL hockey player is telling his tale, and I think we all should listen. You can, via the marvelous North Country Public Radio (NCPR) website’s story of Val James who, after 30 years of living a quiet life, is now telling a distinctly American tale of struggle and triumph.
NCPR did a lovely job telling the Val James story. Listen up/read up. And if you want more, read an excerpt from Black Ice: The Val James Story (ECW Press, 2015), here.
And read on.
