Friday Night In A Bookstore

I'm far from being Ben Stiller in any aspect of my life, so the title of this article might be a little misleading if you were thinking I did some sort of variation on A Night at the Museum. I assure you I wasn't locked in a bookstore nor was I interacting with various displays, but I did spend a few hours at a bookstore this evening listening to the man pictured to the left as TSN's James Duthie is in town for the CFL's Grey Cup festivities! James was at the McNally Robinson location in Grant Park where he was talking about and signing copies of his new book, Certified Beauties published by Harper Collins Canada, while entertaining the dozens of folks who showed up to meet him. It was a fun night of story-telling from one of Canada's best story-tellers, and I'm glad I made Friday plans to visit a local bookstore!

The Hockey Show on UMFM was lucky enough to have James on as a guest back in 2015, and we had an incredible chat about the book he had published back then, The Guy on the Left, and everything that he covered in that book. I still feel that's one of the best interviews we've done on the show due to how honest and funny James was, and I'll always be grateful for the time and interview he gave to our show.

Tonight's chat about Certified Beauties felt a lot like that as James answered a lot of questions about how the book came about, how he got some of the stories from the players he spoke with, and some of his favorite stories. He spoke about meeting with Roberto Luongo for one of his TSN parody clips which has led to the two having a strong friendship, he was honest about loving the opportunity he gets in covering The Masters golf tournament, and he even broke some news about the media coverage at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympics!

After the formal talk about Certified Beauties, James spent time signing his books for everyone in line while chatting with them about everything. His interest in why people were buying the book, their connections to hockey, and the excitement they had in meeting him was felt by all, and he volunteered for every opportunity to be in a photo with someone. It was certainly an absolute pleasure to speak with him when my moment arrived, and it's very possible that something fun may come out of that discussion between us!

I've been told and certainly have heard a number of times in my life that one shouldn't meet his or her heroes. I don't think it would be fair that I use that word with James Duthie because I feel like he's more than that. He's a genuine, fun-loving, entertaining guy who works in sports media and enjoys his work on a daily basis. He speaks to you like a neighbour when you're out in the yard - friendly, good discussion with lots of smiles and laughs. Yes, he works on TSN and he'll likely be recognized no matter where he goes in Canada, but he doesn't carry himself in that manner in any way whatsoever.

James will likely be busy getting prepared for the Grey Cup game this weekend so I'm not sure if there will be other chances where people could meet him around Winnipeg, but his personality and fun-loving self is on display on the pages of The Guy on the Left while his love of heart-warming and entertaining hockey stories comes through in spades in both Beauties and Certified Beauties. With the holiday season approaching, these three books and his fourth book, The Day I (Almost) Killed Two Gretzkys, would make great gifts for the hockey fans in your life! Find them at your local bookstore today!

I never thought I'd be writing about hanging out at a bookstore on a Friday and enjoying every moment of it, but it was certainly worth it to meet James Duthie and listen to him speak about his experiences!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!