First, thank you to Michael Carroll and Dundurn Press for the opportunity to write fiction again. While there were times I worried I couldn’t do it anymore, working on this book was mostly a lot of fun!
Even though this book is a work of fiction, it is based on a lot of real-life events. George Kennedy, Joe Hall, Newsy Lalonde, and the rest of the Montreal Canadiens were real people. So were the Seattle hockey players and newspaper reporters. Even Benton Embree, who helps David in his search, really was a lawyer in Seattle. Although I’ve used them all fictitiously, much effort was taken to present the historical details pertaining to their lives and time period as accurately as possible.
There are many people to whom I wish to express my thanks; first among them is my mother-in-law, Alice Embury. Alice grew up in Montreal, and though she was a girl about David’s age in the 1920s and 1930s, her memories, and the stories she has written down, gave me all the details I needed to create David’s neighbourhood near Papineau Avenue. In fact, Alice was born in the house on Chabot Street I used for David’s home. (Although the address was 1960 in the 1910s, a switch in the numbering system in the 1920s changed it to 5628, which it remains to this day.) I gave David’s sister Alice’s name in tribute and used the Embury name for the same reason.
The Montefiore Home where David is taken during the Spanish Flu epidemic was a real place in Montreal, though it didn’t actually open until a few years later. Judy Gordon has written two very interesting books about the Montreal Hebrew Orphans’ Home, which opened in 1909, and the Montefiore Hebrew Orphans’ Home. Judy’s husband, Myer Gordon, lived at the Montefiore Home in the 1920s and 1930s, and between Judy’s books and the willingness of both of them to answer my questions, it seemed the perfect place for David. Not everything I wrote may be entirely accurate, but any changes were made for the sake of the story and are my responsibility.
My own French isn’t very good — in fact, almost non-existent — so I’m most thankful to Jean-Patrice Martel for providing me with French translations and proper phrases for the French characters in the book. The funny thing is, I had already named a key character J-P after Jean-Patrice before I even thought to ask him for his help! Jean-Patrice is a colleague with the Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR), and there are many other SIHR members who helped, either directly or indirectly, with bits of research for this story. Among them are Ernie Fitzsimmons, Paul Kitchen, Bill Sproule, and Jason Wilson.
Craig Campbell and Phil Pritchard at the Hockey Hall of Fame have always been very helpful to me, and in this case I must thank Craig especially for showing me Joe Hall’s scrapbook in the Hall of Fame’s resource centre and for introducing me to Larry Hall, the grandson of “Bad Joe” himself. As it turns out, Larry and I are practically neighbours!
Another person who deserves a huge “assist” for her help in researching this novel is Jo-Anne Colby of the CP Archives. Jo-Anne provided invaluable information about the trains, routes, and ferry schedules that would have taken the Canadiens to Seattle in 1919. Although I changed their voyage a little bit — the Canadiens actually stopped to play exhibition games in Regina and Calgary en route west — this was again done for the sake of the story. Dona Bubelis and the Magazine and Newspaper Department of the Seattle Public Library were most helpful, as well. I was very impressed with their online service.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Barbara. Her support and encouragement are never-ending.