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Children's Nonfiction Hockey

Big Train

The Legendary Ironman of Sport, Lionel Conacher

by (author) Richard Brignall

Publisher
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
Initial publish date
Mar 2011
Category
Hockey, General
Recommended Age
11 to 18
Recommended Grade
6 to 12
Recommended Reading age
11 to 18
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781552778784
    Publish Date
    Mar 2011
    List Price
    $12.99
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781552774519
    Publish Date
    Nov 2009
    List Price
    $16.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552774502
    Publish Date
    Sep 2009
    List Price
    $9.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Lionel Conacher excelled at football, hockey, baseball, boxing, wrestling, and lacrosse. He taught himself how to play and he worked hard, and it paid off. He supported his struggling family, never giving up or letting people down. He was given the nickname Big Train because he was unstoppable on the football field when he ran through the opposition. In 1921 Conacher joined the Toronto Argonauts, and in 1926 he played professional baseball for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After retiring from sports, Conacher was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1949. Richard Brignall tells this fascinating story of the man who could do it all.

 

About the author

Richard Brignall is a freelance writer, former newspaper sport reporter, based in Kenora, Ontario. He has over 130 articles published in magazines like Cottage Life and Outdoor Canada. He helped originate the Recordbooks series at James Lorimer and Company. This series focuses on Canadian sports history and issues like race, gender, disability, and poverty. He has written seven books for this series. Titles include Small Town Glory about the Kenora Thistles winning the Stanley Cup, Forever Champions about the Edmonton Grads women’s basketball team, Big League Dreams about black baseball player Fergie Jenkins, and China Clipper about Chinese-Canadian football player Norm Kwong. 

Richard Brignall's profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Red Cedar Book Award, 2011-12

Editorial Reviews

"A great resource for any school porject about Canadian history -- or the everyday sports buff looking for a really great read."

Resource Links

"Young sports enthusiasts will be interested in this biography of sports star Lionel Conacher. The chapters are short and fast-paced with accessible vocabulary and sentence structure."

Canadian Review of Materials

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