POKE CHECK! (photo by C.McAvoy)

On October 24, 2013, CBC personality and award-winning author Grant Lawrence releases his second book, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie, on Douglas and McIntyre. In celebration of the new memoir chronicling Lawrence’s love/hate relationship with Canada’s national winter sport, book launch events have been announced in cities across the country with more to follow.

“Whether I’m on radio, TV, or at a book reading, I truly love interacting with audiences”, says Lawrence. “For years I was a touring musician with my band the Smugglers, so being on the road is in my blood. I can’t wait to get back out there and share stories from the new book”.

All events will include Grant reading or telling stories from the new book, as well as a slide presentation, a short film, Q+A, book signing, and live musical performances from special guests in select cities.

Thu Oct 24, Vancouver Launch Party, BC Sports Hall of Fame, Vancouver BC, 7pm-9pm, w/ musical appearance by Bodhi Jones. Presented by BCSHF, Douglas and McIntyre, and Phillips Brewing. RSVP at Facebook event page.

Fri Oct 25, Victoria Launch Party, Copper Owl, Victoria BC, 7pm, musical performance by Matt Lockhart. Presented by Bolen Books. RSVP at the Facebook event page.

Sat Oct 26, Community Theatre, Tofino BC, 7pm

Sun Oct 27, Laughing Oyster Books, Courtenay BC, 3pm

Mon Oct 28, Java Shack, Campbell River BC, 7pm

Tue Oct 29, Nanaimo Public Library, Nanaimo BC, 6pm

Wed Oct 30, Lefty’s Restaurant, Parksville BC, 6pm

Thu Nov 7, Arts Centre, Sechelt BC, 7pm

Fri Nov 8, Rainbow Room, Rodmay Hotel, Powell River BC, 7pm, w/ musical performance from Slim Milkie, presented by Breakwater Books.

Thu Nov 14, Public Library, Prince George BC, 6pm

Fri Nov 15 Public Library, Fraser Lake BC, 1pm

Fri Nov 15, Public Library, Fort St. James BC, 7pm

Sat Nov 16, Public Library, McBride BC, 2pm

Sat Nov 16, Public Library, Valemount BC, 7pm

Sat Nov 23, Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal QC, 7pm

Sun Nov 24, Kingston Brew Pub, Kingston ON, 2pm w/ musical performance by Matthew Barber

Mon Nov 25, Phog Lounge, Windsor ON, 7pm w/ musical performance by Crissi Cochrane

Tue Nov 26, Landon Library (not a misprint), London ON, 7pm, w/ musical performance by Marty Kolls.

Wed Nov 27, Toronto Launch Party, Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, Toronto ON, 8pm-10pm, w/ musical appearance by Matthew Barber, interview by Kevin Sylvester. Presented by This Is Not A Reading Series and Douglas and McIntyre. RSVP at the Facebook event page.

Thu Nov 28, tba, Hamilton ON

Fri Nov 29, Pressed, Ottawa ON, 7pm. RSVP at the Facebook event page.

Fri Dec 6, Amigo’s, Saskatoon SK, w/ musical performance by Maybe Smith.

Sat Dec 7, Bruno Artsbank, Bruno SK, w/ musical performance by Maybe Smith.

Sun Dec 8, Public Library, St. Albert AB

Mon Dec 9, National Music Centre, Calgary AB, w/ musical performance by KJ Jansen (Chixdiggit)

Tue Dec 10, Public Library, Cranbrook BC

Wed Dec 11, Public Library, Kimberley BC

Thu Dec 12, Public Library, Fernie BC

Advanced praise for The Lonely End of the Rink:

“Soul-searching, candid and clever” – Ron MacLean, Hockey Night In Canada

“Like David Sedaris in a Canadian tuxedo” – Boyd Devereaux, Stanley Cup Champion, Detroit Red Wings

“Heartbreaking and hilarious” – Angie Abdou, author, The Bone Cage

“It’s not always pretty, but this is a funny, poignant, and very Canadian story”. – Kevin Sylvester, CBC broadcaster

I’m thrilled to finally release the details of my new, upcoming book The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie.

I was once again close to writing a book about music, but just as was the case with the first book, Adventures in Solitude, I got distracted with another topic that I am very passionate (and conflicted) about: HOCKEY.

I’ve been writing this book for about three years, with a large majority of it written in France in 2011. I will happily be signing pre-orders through this site, probably starting in early September. I’ll let the press peeps take over from here for the full details of the book… please let me know what you think of the title, the cover (designed by Naomi MacDougall), and the subject, by leaving a comment. Thanks!

From the press peeps:

CBC’S GRANT LAWRENCE ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK “THE LONELY END OF THE RINK”

Grant Lawrence, the CBC Radio broadcaster, musician, and award-winning author, has announced the title, cover, and release date of his hotly anticipated new memoir.

“The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie” chronicles Grant Lawrence’s turbulent and often darkly hilarious relationship with the game of hockey.

Lawrence was an undersized child who wore thick glasses and knee-braces, and he understood, first-hand, what it was like to be in the attack zone of the hockey-obsessed jocks at school. For Grant, bullying and the violent game of hockey seemed to go hand-in-hand. Yet he was enamoured with the sport and its characters, especially the solitary goalies down at the ‘lonely end of the rink’.

Eventually, Lawrence discovered that playing goalie on a hockey team isn’t all that different from playing in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And that artistically-minded wimps can find just as much joy in the game as their meathead counterparts.

In this deeply revealing, incredibly witty memoir, the fast-paced narrative of “The Lonely End of the Rink” passes back and forth between tales of Grant’s turbulent and often violent ordeals with hockey jocks, and the three failed attempts at the Stanley Cup by his beloved hometown Vancouver Canucks.

“Despite all the bullying I was subjected to, I absolutely adored the Vancouver Canucks, especially those Cup-Run goalies of Richard Brodeur, Kirk McLean and Roberto Luongo. I have always had a fascination with that unique position and the ‘lonely end of the rink’, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that I became a goalie myself”.

“The Lonely End of the Rink” takes its name from a song by The Tragically Hip. Lead singer Gord Downie is an ex-goalie himself, and personally gave his blessing to Lawrence for the use of the title.

“The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie” will be published by Douglas and McIntyre in October 2013.

Follow Grant Lawrence on Twitter.

Follow Grant Lawrence on Instagram.

Getting chased by dinosaurs in Drumheller, Alberta.

Hey yo from the Trans Canada Highway! I’ve been receiving a few emails, tweets, and Facebook messages asking me what the heck this CBC Beetle Roadtrip is all about, so I thought I would answer a few of those questions here…

Maybe you’ve seen the ads on CBC television, maybe you’ve seen a tweet or a Facebook photo, or seen one of the videos on CBC Music.ca.

Here’s the scoop: I’m in the middle of an epic Vancouver to Toronto roadtrip in a brand new Volkswagen Beetle Fender Edition. It’s like driving a rolling amplifier. The Beetle is shiny black and has attracted a lot of attention every where we’ve travelled so far.

The whole point of the trip is to hook up with great bands across the country, filming exclusive performances in their own habitat and unique locations in and around their hometown. Those sessions are being posted on CBCMusic.ca and being show on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight on CBC TV.

We’re a week and a half in and already we’ve had plenty of wild and wooly adventures:

– I’ve had a live goat shoved into the CBC Beetle.

– I’ve been shoved off a raft into the swift current of a glacier river.

– I’ve plunged naked into Lake Louise.

– I’ve been (almost) mauled by dinosaurs and communed with prairie dogs.

Still to come, adventures from across the Canadian shield, and stops in Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston and more, including a finale party on Friday June 14 at CBC Toronto with The Darcys. Leave a comment if you’ll be in Toronto and you’d like to attend.

You can also follow the trip on my Instagram account and check out all the photos so far.

I jumped into Lake Louise! It was cold!