HOCKEY with author Keith Gave

If you missed him at the National Writers Series event, here is your second chance! Join us in person with Mr. Gave or via Zoom by registering HERE.

Keith Gave is the author of the best-selling book, “The Russian Five” (Gold Star Publishing, March 2018) and writer/producer of the award-winning feature documentary film of the same name, which was released to wide acclaim.

A story of espionage, bribery, defection and courage, “The Russian Five” reveals in scintillating detail how five former Soviet Red Army Club stars wound up in Detroit to help the Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years in 1997 – and again in 1998. It won the State of Michigan Library’s Michigan Notable Book Award.

“Vlad The Impaler” (released in April 2022), is essentially a sequel to “The Russian Five” that highlights Vladimir Konstantinov, the player whose career ended in the limousine crash just six days after the Wings won the Cup in June 1997. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book has been earmarked for the Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust that was established by his daughter, Anastasia, to help cover costs of the 24/7 care he requires that is critical to his survival.

“A Miracle of Their Own” (written with Tim Rappleye and released in October 2022).. It’s a story about how the underdog Team USA upset Canada to win the gold medal in the first-ever Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. That set up what many people believe is the best rivalry in sports today.

Notably, in February, those heroic gold-medalists are celebrating  the 25^th anniversary of that stunning performance. This is the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark law that was supposed to level the playing field (and ice rinks) for girls and boys. But as the book details, women still have a long way to go before they’re even close to realizing any semblance of equality.

About the author: Gave’s three non-fiction books cap an eclectic career that included lengthy stints as soldier, spy, newspaperman, radio host, TV analyst, publicist, professor and college newspaper adviser, and filmmaker – all before he set out to write his first book.

 He spent six years in the United States Army as a Russian linguist working for the National Security Agency during the Cold War, including three years in West Berlin when it was surrounded by a wall. Nothing could have better prepared him for a career as a sports writer covering hockey for the Detroit Free Press. That’s when he experienced the cloak-and-dagger assignment of his career; on a covert mission to Helsinki, Finland, he passed along messages to two young Soviet hockey players who would eventually defect and lead the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup summit.

 A native of suburban Detroit, Gave’s news career spanned more than 40 years, including assignments with The Associated Press (Chicago Bureau), the Detroit Free Press and the Dallas Morning News, where his editors nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. More recently, he spent nearly 20 years as a college English and journalism instructor before “retiring” to write books.

 He lives in Northern Michigan, where he continues to write and serve as a part-time sports director for a Northern Michigan radio network – when he’s not sneaking off to cast a fly to the trout on his home waters of the AuSable River.