TORONTO/NEW YORK, Jan. 8, 2013 /CNW/ - Penguin Canada Associate Publisher Nick Garrison has inked a deal with Bobby Orr to publish the hockey icon's autobiography, Orr: My Story, under the company's Viking imprint on October 15, 2013. The agreement was arranged in collaboration with G.P. Putnam's Sons Senior Vice President, Publisher and Editor in Chief, Neil Nyren, who plans simultaneous publication in the United States.
Orr, who has always been reluctant to talk about his many triumphs and has never spoken publicly about his personal relationships, even when they made their way into the headlines, promises to set the record straight on his remarkable life story. While the memoir will include chapters reflecting on the incomparable career of a beloved sports statesman it will also feature the candid thoughts of a man who once lost nearly everything to the treachery of his best friend, then reinvented himself and found renewed success.
"I'm like most people in that over time I've wanted to write down my thoughts, make sense of many things I've seen, and share some things I've learned," says Orr. "Having played in the National Hockey League doesn't make me a better person than anyone else but it does mean that I've met some interesting people and been through some experiences I think are worth putting on paper. This moment in my life seems the right time to do just that."
"Like a lot of Canadian kids, I idolized Number 4," says Garrison. "I've never doubted that Bobby Orr was the greatest player ever to suit up in the NHL. His stats are more than enough to make that case, but it's the things that are hard to measure that really set him apart - his fearlessness, his grace, his humility. This book will capture not only the greatness of Bobby Orr, but more importantly the qualities that made him great, even after he retired from the game."
"Having grown up in Boston," says Nyren, "I know first-hand that Bobby Orr is that rare phenomenon: a hockey player who stands out as a true superstar in the United States. Orr is still sports royalty in New England, and in hockey towns all across the country, and that's as much for the person he is off the ice as the legend he became while wearing a Bruins sweater."
About Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr, born in Parry Sound, Ontario, in 1948, played for the Boston Bruins from 1966 through 1976, and helped lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 1970 and 1972, and to the finals in 1974. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest hockey players - maybe the greatest hockey player - of all time. His speed and scoring and playmaking abilities revolutionized the position of defenseman. As of this date, he remains the only defenseman to have won the Art Ross Trophy league scoring title - twice - and still holds the record for most points and assists at that position. Orr won a record eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman and three consecutive Hart Trophies as the league's MVP, as well as two Conn Smythe Trophies as the Stanley Cup MVP. He is the only player in history to have won the Ross, Norris, Hart, and Conn Smythe Trophies in a single season. He was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame at the age of 31 - the youngest living player to receive that honour. After his retirement in 1978, Orr was active with business and charitable works, and in 1996, he entered the player agent business, and today is president of the Orr Hockey Group agency. He has been invested with the Order of Canada and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2010 was one of eight athletes who bore the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics.
About Penguin Canada
Penguin Group (www.penguin.com), one of the world's largest English-language trade book publishers, has established divisions and key market positions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, China, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland. The Penguin Group is part of Pearson, the international media company.
Penguin Canada, founded in 1974, is one of Canada's preeminent trade publishers, publishing and distributing a wide range of imprints including Allen Lane, Hamish Hamilton, Dutton, Gotham, Riverhead, Viking, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Plume and Berkley Books.
Image with caption: "Penguin Canada (CNW Group/Penguin Group (Canada))". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130108_C4422_PHOTO_EN_22323.jpg
SOURCE: Penguin Group (Canada)
Beth Lockley
Executive Director, Publicity & Marketing
Penguin Canada
416.928.2413 / [email protected]
Stephen Myers
Publicity Manager
Penguin Canada
416.928.2420 / [email protected]
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