National Network for Equitable Library Service

With six decades in show business, legendary director Ted Kotcheff looks back on his life

From feared NHL sniper to ship captain and bellhop — with hockey’s greatest ’stache

Death, Drugs, & Muscle is the story of a man who lived decades on the right side of the law before making the dangerous choice to enter the dark and dangerous world of drug dealing. After reaching the top and living a lavish lifestyle where sex, drugs, and money were in plentiful supply at all hours of the day, it all came crashing down in one harrowing instant. This is the story of Gregg Valentino, a man who had everything, lost it all, and fought his way back to the top.

A full-colour compendium of Toronto's 'Brief Leafs'

Over the past 100 years, close to 1,000 players have suited up for at least one game with the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs, and more than 250 did in the most turbulent era in club history, 1978-1999. In that time span, the Leafs made more than 300 trades, signed 20 free agents, and claimed eight players on waivers while almost 100 draft selections changed hands in addition to dozens of Toronto's own picks.

Written with the same spirit and wit as the bestselling Too Close to the Falls and After the Falls, Coming Ashore is the third and final volume of Catherine Gildiner’s memoir series. Picking up her story in the late ’60s at age 21, Cathy whisks through seven years and three countries.

Serala drank frat boys under the table. She wore saris and ate delicately from plates of curry at family events; elsewhere she wore a lip ring, designer shades, and a cowboy hat and ordered bloody steaks. She wrote volumes of poetry, made amateur films, singlehandedly ran a chapter of Food Not Bombs, and ended up as a fierce advertising agency executive. She often slept less than five hours per week and would, at the slightest excuse, drive from L.A. to New York in a cool 50 hours. In some moments of danger, she split the lips of menacing strangers.

The most unpredictable and charismatic grappler of all time? The brute that made brawling an art before the term “hardcore” was coined? The confrontational businessman who fought for every penny he felt he deserved?

“Bruiser” Brody had no peers when it came to blood and guts, controversy and independence. Most wrestling promoters portrayed their top talent as exactly that kind of free-spirited, take-no-guff personality. They didn’t mean it, though — which explains why so few would admit to respecting Brody even as they featured him time and again.

Groomed since the age of eight by his obsessive father Vince Spadea, by most accounts—except Andre Agass's, who called Vince “a journeyman” at age 25—has been a success. At the start of the 2005 season, 19th seed Spadea was the only over-30-year-old player besides Agassi to be ranked in the top-20 on the world professional tennis circuit.

The death of Bon Scott is the Da Vinci Code of rock

In death, AC/DC’s trailblazing frontman has become a rock icon, and the legend of the man known around the world simply as “Bon” grows with each passing year. But how much of it is myth?

Val James received his first pair of skates for his 13th birthday and by 16, he left his home in New York to play in Canada, where he was the only black person on his junior team and, often, in the whole town. While popular for his tough play and winning personality, the teenager faced racist taunts at opposing arenas. The prejudice he encountered continued at all levels of the game. He became the first African American NHLer when he took to the ice with the Buffalo Sabres in 1982, and in 1987 he was the first black player of any nationality to skate for the Toronto Maple Leafs.