Eddie Olczyk is a household name for Canadian sports fans even though the National Hockey League star was born and raised in Chicago and was drafted by his beloved ‘Hawks as a rising star.
During his career Eddie O played for the Toronto Maples on the popular GEM line with Gary Leeman and Mark Osbourne and during his time, the passionate horse racing fan and shrewd handicapper dabbled in Thoroughbred ownership with Gary.
In recent years, Eddie O has been seen as a racing analyst for NBC for major horse races in addition to his TV work in hockey. Just over two years ago the unthinkable happened to the personable Olczyk when he was diagnosed with colon cancer and the fight of his life began.
Eddie’s autobiography, “Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life”, written with award winning Toronto writer Perry Lefko, holds nothing back when he talks about his fight with cancer. The book, in fact, begins with the chapter “The Call” which came in August 2017, a call that would change his life forever. He takes us through his initial thoughts and feelings, the terrible journey through treatment and the support he received from family and friends.
It had been a pretty exciting life up until 2017. Eddie was a natural on the ice, a ‘rink rat’ who at the young age of 17 played for the 1984 US Olympic Hockey team. He was drafted by his home team, the Chicago Blackhawks and lived a boyhood dream.
He has said that cancer will never be out of his life and hopes that he can, through his work, appearances and this book, help others be proactive about cancer detection and support those who too are fighting the disease.
Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Wildest Horse Race
The Mongol Derby is the world’s toughest horse race. A feat of endurance across the vast Mongolian plains once traversed by the people of Genghis Khan, competitors ride 25 horses across a distance of 1000km. Many riders don’t make it to the finish line.
In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer – nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown – decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby’s most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race.
A tale of adventure, fortitude and poetry, Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of one young woman’s encounter with oblivion, and herself.
The Meg Sheppard Mystery Series
The Meg Sheppard Mystery SeriesWhat Happened to Frank?
Over Frank’s Dead Body
Pointed Attacks
Vicky Earle of Goodwood, Ontario recently had a book launch for her third instalment of the Meg Sheppard Mystery Series, a clever who-dun-it series that sets off with former Brit, and horse-lover, Meg determined to find out who killed her husband Frank. It was Frank, Thoroughbred owner and champion for the integrity of the sport, who was integral in putting in place new rules for medication use. They are rules that are not unanimously welcomed.
Surrounded best pal Eagle and her beloved border collie, Meg digs deep into Frank’s life, their own past and stumbles into some unusual events, more deaths and stolen horses. Settle in this winter for this intriguing and Canadian-made mystery series from Ontario horse owner Vicky Earle.
JUSTIFY: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory
In Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory, veteran scribe Lenny Shulman (BloodHorse magazine) provides an insider account of this Thoroughbred’s rise to greatness. Through extensive interviews and first-hand accounts, readers will discover the fascinatingly disparate cast of characters who were crucial to Justify’s success, including trainer Bob Baffert, whose innate ability to identify equine talent also produced American Pharoah; Mike Smith, the 52-year-old jockey asserting himself in the miraculous third act of his career; and breeders John and Tanya Gunther, who believed in Justify’s ability despite the developmental imperfections that drove buyers away.
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