Tuesday's With Dave

The Epilogue  I have always been amazed and impressed by fiction writers. I may be reading a book and be carried away to somewhere else in the world. I may be moved to emotion from what the author drags out of me through their writing. I may be watching a TV show and wonder how to these writers come up with this stuff?  Those who can  create fiction amaze me. It's like a whole other level of writing. My writing is a factual, non-fiction that is developed through research, not the beautiful creativity of the fiction writer. In writing A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp I felt an urge at the end to try my hand at a little fiction that would put a bow on the culture of Olympia. No idea where this came from but it was fun. I hope you the enjoy the epilogue.   Epilogue   The 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister boarded the bus in Toronto, heading north for a week’s adventure that they had been looking forward to for a long time....

 You can tell this book by its cover After three years of interviewing a lot of amazing people, researching the history of the land on which Olympia Sports camp now resides, and going through a journey of writing my second book, I am proud to unveil the front cover. To me this is a big step as my publishers have done a great job creating an eye-catching cover that will be in bookstores and gyms in the not-too-distant future. The simplicity of the cover belies the fact that there are a few messages within it. The aerial picture of the land that was first named Interlaken in the 1920's shows the beauty of the property between Oxbow and Dotty lakes as well as the quality of the camp facilities that were developed over the past almost 50 years. The three pictures at the bottom show the Norwegian Air Force during the second world war, the welcoming presence when you first arrive at the camp, and the multitude of activities that a camper can join in order to gain an Olympia experience. T...

 At a place like Olympia relationships create strength and closeness through being like-minded people who seek to share their knowledge and talents while taking on coaching with enthusiasm and passion. The relationships are hewn by shared experiences that are bigger and deeper than any time and distance life may bring. Case in point: Eric Tiessen has given his professional life to helping young people see a future through fun and hard work. He has taught elementary school for more than thirty years and is not done yet. He coached at York University and helped them win an Ontario championship while the lead assistant to Bill Pangos for more than a decade. Eric and I coached Olympia week 9 for more than ten years, working mainly with Bill and Adina Lopez in the WBA division. We then switched to week 5 and a couple of years we even roomed together. I remember one time we took on the Zipline with success! And yes, Eric was in on the bear story of some repute. Because of COVID and other...

There is a sense of excitement and anticipation when we are almost completed a task, no matter the size. I guess the larger and  longer the process to get to this point makes the excitement build.  This week I received three different cover ideas from my publisher and am now looking at all three with a determination to be made for which one we select. You can tell the book by this cover! Exciting times for sure. It will be a couple of weeks before the cover is unveiled but suffice to say that this picture will be a key element. Blog followers will be the first to see the cover. HERE WE GOOOO! The picture captures not only the beauty of Interlaken, between Dotty and Oxbow Lakes, but if one looks closely you can see the very history of the land that has been used by the  Anishinaabeg   people, the European settlement process, the Norwegian Air Force, The Kiwanis Club of Toronto and of course of Olympia Sports camp since 1979. The final cover will be an exciting la...

This week I announce that I have started a personal business for the publishing and selling of my books; Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story and the upcoming A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp.  The publisher and I are in a work in progress for the cover but I am releasing the  text  of the back cover, that people will read  before  buying. The back cover of many books extol how great the book inside is, but I  feel  the people of  Olympia  Sports Camp, and their journeys, are what the book is about  and I am proud to unveil the thoughts of four Olympians for this purpose. I feel these words are a priceless example of the impact of Olympia, and the subsequent impact of those who follow.     Olympia is a People Who     “The people at Olympia are some of the greatest and most inspiring people I have ever met. Every summer, I witness staff members and campers become a better version of the...

 One of the basic tenets of the hero's journey that Dave Grace adapted from the teachings of Joseph Campbell and has been captured in "A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp" is that as heroes we the go and grow through our journey, and all that entails, but it is in the return where the true impact of our lives takes place. Accomplishments are great results of passion and hard work  but in the return the hero shares of the lessons to impact others and help them shape their journeys, and the exponential impact of those, in turn, allow for hundreds of others to benefit. Such is the life of John Petrushchak. Last week I went to the celebration of life of Coach P  and came away overwhelmed by the truism that the hero's journey really is. Yes, John coached 4 teams that won OFSAA championships, yes he is the winningest coach in OFSAA history, yes he has been honoured at the national level for what he has done in basketball, but in that room the...

Friends and Memories of Home   The publishing part of my journey of writing “A Hero’s Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp“ took me to Olympia for an awesome 24 hours that included dear Olympia friends, the return home, and the memories of a very special place.   In searching for 12 pictures to be on the first page of each chapter in the book, I decided to go to the source, and, with the help and support of Greg Rogers and Dave Grace, my mission was to go through four milk cartons of pictures. I found about 30 to pick from but to be honest, every picture could be in a book. They all capture the essence of Olympia. Along this journey to Interlaken I was fortunate to have a great day, as well as getting a key component to the final manuscript.   On the way up I was lucky to play golf with three of the greatest friends. Bill Pangos, Rich MacPherson, Norm Pfenning and I have shared many an agenda over the years through our involvement in basketball and we als...