memoir

Val James of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes warmup prior to a preseason game against the Boston Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1986.

Sports
National
Books

As First Black American NHL Player, Enforcer Was Defenseless Against Racism

10:03am February 27, 2015

by David Sommerstein

Val James became the first American-born black player in the NHL in 1982. He faced vicious racism, including fans throwing bananas on the ice. After 30 years in silence, he is talking about it now.

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Philip Connors' first book Fire Season was about how he spent a few months every year for eight years as a fire lookout, living in a cabin and scanning the horizon with binoculars atop a 45-foot tower in a remote region of New Mexico.

Books
Arts

After His Brother's Suicide, Writer Seeks Comfort In 'All The Wrong Places'

8:35pm February 24, 2015

In his new memoir, Philip Connors writes about "living in the shadow of a suicide." Wracked by guilt and haunted by what-ifs, Connors investigated his brother's death and learned a terrible secret.

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