ECW Press,Canada

From dealing with the cantankerous and cheapskate owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs to hosting radio hotline shows to anchoring a revolutionary late-night program, Sportsline, Mark Hebscher finally tells the unheard stories from his 45 years in the bizarre business of sports broadcasting. How would you react if hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky sweated all over your dress pants during a live TV interview? What if heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks threatened to harm you if you didn''t dance with his wife? These are just two of the occupational obstacles faced by Mark Hebscher during his checkered career in sports media. From covering Harold Ballard, the cantankerous owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to helping lead a cultural revolution in sports broadcasting on the late-night program Sportsline, Hebscher tells stories of his 45 years in the business in his new book, Madness: The Rise and Ruin of Sports Media. This is a compelling look at the evolution of sports journalism and how today''s media coverage drastically differs from the days of newspapers and magazines. At the same time, it explores the effect that radio, TV, and later technology has had on sports coverage, and how men like Howard Cosell changed the way sports was reported on. How did Wide World of Sports and Hockey Night in Canada become so ingrained in popular culture? What was it about Sportsline that made it mandatory viewing? Who were the athletes, sportswriters, sportscasters, reporters, and play-by-play announcers that fueled his desire to be a part of the sports media landscape? In the end, Hebscher''s encounters with the Great One, MC Hammer, Youppi!, Doug Flutie, and Doug Gilmour are more than mildly amusing ... and his unparalleled knowledge of the sports media universe shines throughout.

For Larry David, success was no sure thing. A frustrated New York comic who was known to walk off the stage in disgust, David was barely making a living. At least until his friend Jerry Seinfeld asked him to create a new kind of television sitcom for NBC. The result - Seinfeld - started slowly but became a gigantic hit. But most people didn''t know that the real genius behind the show was Larry David. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, David still had something to prove - and some television boundaries to push. And so he created Curb Your Enthusiasm, the improvised comedy that cast aside political correctness and made for hilarious, cringeworthy TV, a show that dared to relive the disastrous Seinfeld finale and turn it into a triumph. This second, fully updated edition of Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good offers a complete episode-by-episode guide to the series and recounts David''s early struggle to succeed in television and movies, the creation and development of his hit sitcoms, and his later success starring in the HBO film Clear History and the Broadway hit Fish in the Dark. It also explores Larry''s on and offscreen relationships with famous pals like Richard Lewis, Ted Danson, and Jerry, Jason, Julia, and Michael. Filled with candour and humour David himself would respect, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good is an essential companion to a comedic force.

A vital account of the life and many names of Robert Cree, and his plan for a peaceful, sincere, and just path to reconciliation in an angry and chaotic world. His mother called him ''Bobby Mountain.'' Elders called him ''Great Man.'' His people called him ''Chief.'' Oil men called him ''Mr. Cree.'' But the government called him ''Number 53.'' Robert Cree was all of these while facing his people''s oppressors and freeing the ghosts of tortured spirits. The Many Names of Robert Cree is his first-person account of survival in a brutally racist residential school system designed to erase traditional Indigenous culture, language, and knowledge. It is also the story of an epic life of struggle and healing, as Cree takes the wisdom of his ancestors and a message of reconciliation to the halls of government and to industry boardrooms. In the storytelling tradition of his people, Cree recounts his early years in the bush, his captivity at a residential school, his struggles with addiction, his political awakening as one of Canada''s youngest First Nation Chiefs, and the rising Indigenous activism of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He also recounts the oil industry''s arrival on his poverty-stricken reserve and the ensuing struggle to balance economic opportunity with environmental challenges. Throughout, Cree''s leadership is rooted in his unshakable commitment to the sacred traditional teachings of his people. His beliefs give him the strength to focus on hope, dignity, and building a better future for his community. Now a respected Elder and spiritual leader, Cree champions forgiveness as a powerful force that can bring healing and transformation for all.

Alma Alt, the sheltered youngest daughter of an interfaith, interracial Jewish-Mexican couple, rarely ventures far from her home on a wealthy tree-lined street in Ottawa, where nothing ever happens. The one time she did, striking out to visit her older sister, Marnie, in Montreal, things ended in disaster as she found out that beautiful, blonde Marnie had been lying about their family''s background, trying to pass herself off as white. The unintended fallout from that betrayal leads to a devastating accident, one that claims Alma''s arm and someone''s life. Alma is now stuck in a holding pattern, unable to move past the grief, trauma, and injury she suffered that night, all while the bonds that hold her family together crumble, the guilt and resentment between the sisters simmering beneath the surface. But Alma''s life is turned upside down by an encounter just steps from home with an impossible person, the boy she watched die. With keen human insight and stark and honest prose, Other Evolutions is a literary debut with a dark, speculative twist that reveals the uncanny in the mundane, seeing us through the worst parts of our lives toward the weird and wonderful things right in our own backyard.

In 1970, Scott McIntyre cofounded what became Canadian publisher Douglas & McIntyre. In the intervening years, he has watched the rise and fall of publishers, booksellers, and book trends from every corner of the industry. He saw the founding of a significant independent Canadian publisher in British Columbia, the growth of Indigenous literature and government support for publishers, and the increasing global demand for Canadian books. Scott McIntyre has lived the story of Canadian book publishing. Beginning his career at McClelland & Stewart in 1967, he went on to cofound his own publishing house, Douglas & McIntyre, in 1970 and made his mark on the industry amid the country''s exhilarating literary coming-of-age. Becoming one of Canada''s largest and most respected publishing houses and among the first to embrace Indigenous issues, Douglas & McIntyre and its associated children''s publisher, Groundwood Books, published some 900 authors and 2,000 books in less than 50 years. For McIntyre, the authors always came first, and he worked closely with many important figures, including Doris Shadbolt, Wayson Choy, Richard Wagamese, Anna Porter, Will Ferguson, Doug Coupland, Hugh Brody, Robert Bringhurst, Wade Davis, and Farley Mowat. Telling stories featuring a colourful array of characters who rebuilt the publishing world following WWII and anecdotes about how book publishing works, McIntyre touches upon the guiding philosophy and historic traditions still animating the industry today. More than the story of one publisher and his company, this is a first-person account of the buoyant period when writers, their books, and the companies who published them changed the nation.

Using a blend of cultural criticism, humor, and personal memoir akin to Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror or Grace Perry’s The 2000s Made Me Gay, Joelle Kidd writes about her evangelical adolescence through the lens of Christian pop culture of the early 2000s, giving readers a peek into this odd subculture and insight into how evangelicalism’s growing popularity around the turn of the millennium has shaped culture and politics — including today’s far right.An empathetic, funny, and sharply critical collection of essays exploring the Christian pop culture of the 2000s and its influence on today’s politically powerful evangelicalism In 1999, after three years of secular living in Eastern Europe, Joelle Kidd moved back to Canada and was enrolled in the strange world of an evangelical Christian school. In Jesusland, Joelle writes about the Christian pop culture that she was suddenly immersed in, from perky girl bands to modest styling tips, and draws connections between this evangelical subculture and the mainstream, a tense yet reciprocal relationship that both disavows the secular while employing its media markers. But none of this was just about catchy songs: every abstinence quiz in a teen magazine was laying the foundation for what would become a conservative Christian movement that threatens women’s healthcare, attacks queer and trans rights, and drives present-day political division. Through nine incisive, honest, and emotional essays, Jesusland exposes the pop cultural machinations of evangelicalism, while giving voice to aughts-era Christian children and teens who are now adults looking back at their time, measuring the length of their skirts, and asking each other if their celebrity crush was Christian enough. With care and generosity, Jesusland shows us how the conservative evangelical movement became the global power it is today by exploring the pop culture that both reflected and shaped an entire generation of young people.

Having tried his hand at medicine, pickpocketing, and good old-fashioned thuggery, Seamus Caron has finally settled into life as a private detective, hunting down lost money and wandering husbands. It''s not glamorous work, but it pays the bills and provides a steady supply of fistfights for entertainment. The job also keeps him close to his best friend, Sandra Blair, a homicide detective for the Toronto Police. But when she calls in a favour on a murder case, Seamus realises that the victim is a notorious mob lawyer, putting an end to what little stability and safety he''d managed to scrape together. Seamus must find the killer before the murder sparks an all-out gang war. Luckily, he''s got help - a confidence man turned barman, the finest cook in Little Chinatown, and Maxwell Moscovitz, his new secretary. She has the mental sharpness and moral flexibility for the job, but she also has a few secrets of her own. Seamus begins to suspect a connection between the murder and a new drug on the street known as Platinum, which promises obscene profits for its suppliers, euphoria for its users, and a shockingly high death rate. As he investigates suspicious overdoses, Seamus can''t help hearing echoes of his past and the tragedy he''s spent 20 years trying to forget. Caught between the police, the mob, and an anonymous killer, Seamus will need to face his demons, or he just might lose it all.

On an overcast day in 1987, the pro wrestling landscape was altered forever when a reported 93,173 fans converged on the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit to see Hulk Hogan defend his championship against Andre the Giant. For several years, Vincent Kennedy McMahon had been transforming old-time rasslin'' into mainstream ''sports entertainment,'' incorporating A-list celebrities into storylines and forcing even cynics to follow the proceedings. But the massive turnout for WrestleMania III convinced sponsors, licensees, and media conglomerates that the company that would become World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was no longer a fringe diversion for the unwashed masses; it was now legitimate physical theatre worthy of global attention. From this point forward, it would be acceptable for devotees to make the annual pilgrimage to WrestleMania from the far corners of the Earth, the way others journeyed to the World Cup or Super Bowl. BIGGER! BETTER! BADDER! is the story behind the seminal event, told from the perspective of company executives, wrestlers who appeared on the card, fans who attended the show, and other wrestling personalities. But wrestling author and historian Keith Elliot Greenberg also examines the entire industry at the time, including insights from representatives from the rival promotions McMahon was putting out of business as pro wrestling transitioned from a regional phenomenon into an international juggernaut.