On October 15, 2013 Robert Gordon (Bobby) Orr's autobiography “Orr: My Story’’ will hit the book shelves - I have already reserved my copy.
Orr is now 65 but I watched him play from the time he broke into the NHL until his untimely retirement due to chronic knee injuries ... and play as no other player before or since has played and transformed the game (apologies to Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky but that is how I see it).
But what many do not know (and which he omits from his book) is his personal good works and humanitarian endeavours because Bobby Orr remains humble to a fault about himself and a very private person.
This extensive article from the Boston Globe examines that part of the Orr legend - his second career if you will - and apparently Orr was not all that pleased. I highly commend the article and the accompanying video.
Here is the video interview:
http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid2606570293001&&bctid=2700675642001
And the article - At 65, Bobby Orr is focused on doing good — quietly:
A legendary hockey player... and an even better person.
But skill on the ice is only a part of his story. All of the trophies, records, and press clippings leave unsaid as much about the man as they reveal. They tell us what Orr did, but don't tell us what inspired him, who taught him, or what he learned along the way. They don't tell what it was like for a shy small-town kid to become one of the most celebrated athletes in the history of the game, all the while in the full glare of the media. They don't tell us what it was like when the agent he regarded as his brother betrayed him and left him in financial ruin, at the same time his battered knee left him unable to play the game he himself had redefined only a few seasons earlier. They don't tell about the players and people he learned to most admire along the way. They don't tell what he thinks of the game of hockey today.
Orr himself has never put all this into words, until now. After decades of refusing to speak of his past in articles or "authorized" biographies, he finally tells his story, because he has something to share: "I am a parent and a grandparent and I believe that I have lessons worth passing along."
In the end, this is not just a book about hockey. The most meaningful biographies and memoirs rise above the careers out of which they grew. Bobby Orr's life goes far deeper than Stanley Cup rings, trophies and recognitions. His story is not only about the game, but also the age in which it was played. It's the story of a small-town kid who came to define its highs and lows, and inevitably it is a story of the lessons he learned along the way.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books...BooksByTitle&gclid=CMCirebg8bkCFfBaMgodV1oAegOrr himself has never put all this into words, until now. After decades of refusing to speak of his past in articles or "authorized" biographies, he finally tells his story, because he has something to share: "I am a parent and a grandparent and I believe that I have lessons worth passing along."
In the end, this is not just a book about hockey. The most meaningful biographies and memoirs rise above the careers out of which they grew. Bobby Orr's life goes far deeper than Stanley Cup rings, trophies and recognitions. His story is not only about the game, but also the age in which it was played. It's the story of a small-town kid who came to define its highs and lows, and inevitably it is a story of the lessons he learned along the way.
Orr is now 65 but I watched him play from the time he broke into the NHL until his untimely retirement due to chronic knee injuries ... and play as no other player before or since has played and transformed the game (apologies to Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky but that is how I see it).
But what many do not know (and which he omits from his book) is his personal good works and humanitarian endeavours because Bobby Orr remains humble to a fault about himself and a very private person.
This extensive article from the Boston Globe examines that part of the Orr legend - his second career if you will - and apparently Orr was not all that pleased. I highly commend the article and the accompanying video.
Here is the video interview:
http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid2606570293001&&bctid=2700675642001
And the article - At 65, Bobby Orr is focused on doing good — quietly:
... (F)or decades, Orr has privately counseled and comforted the sick and dying, the disabled and disenfranchised, the poor and grieving.
He is 65 now and still considered by many the greatest hockey player who ever lived, an indelible revelation on ice. During his 12 years in the NHL from 1966-78, he twice led the Bruins to Stanley Cup titles, in 1970 and 1972, and accumulated nearly every honor the NHL grants, including early entry to the Hall of Fame.
But if the true measure of character is found in the deeds done when no one is looking, then Orr has forged a transcendent legacy in the decades since he first wielded a wooden hockey stick on Causeway Street.
His effortless speed, power, and scoring touch, unrivaled in the history of NHL defensemen, revolutionized the sport he loves and turned New England into a hub of hockey fanatics.
His work changing lives is much less known, for a simple reason: He won’t talk about it and loathes anyone else talking about it. The idea of receiving credit — or worse, appearing to seek credit — for doing what a good person does repulses Bobby Orr. This article, which touches on some of those quiet acts of kindness was, in a real sense, written against his wishes.
“I don’t do things to get ink,’’ he said in an interview last week. “I just sneak along and do my thing and meet wonderful people, some people I’ve never met, new friends.’’
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...eTyFcjwgoIKj2mlJL/story.html?s_campaign=sm_twHe is 65 now and still considered by many the greatest hockey player who ever lived, an indelible revelation on ice. During his 12 years in the NHL from 1966-78, he twice led the Bruins to Stanley Cup titles, in 1970 and 1972, and accumulated nearly every honor the NHL grants, including early entry to the Hall of Fame.
But if the true measure of character is found in the deeds done when no one is looking, then Orr has forged a transcendent legacy in the decades since he first wielded a wooden hockey stick on Causeway Street.
His effortless speed, power, and scoring touch, unrivaled in the history of NHL defensemen, revolutionized the sport he loves and turned New England into a hub of hockey fanatics.
His work changing lives is much less known, for a simple reason: He won’t talk about it and loathes anyone else talking about it. The idea of receiving credit — or worse, appearing to seek credit — for doing what a good person does repulses Bobby Orr. This article, which touches on some of those quiet acts of kindness was, in a real sense, written against his wishes.
“I don’t do things to get ink,’’ he said in an interview last week. “I just sneak along and do my thing and meet wonderful people, some people I’ve never met, new friends.’’
A legendary hockey player... and an even better person.
) the small paperback Bobby Orr bio that came out in 1972. Must have read it 50 times as a boy, that's how big a fan I was.
