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Biography & Autobiography Sports

Les Costello

Canada's Flying Father

by (author) Charlie Angus

Publisher
Novalis
Initial publish date
Jan 2005
Category
Sports
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9782896468973
    Publish Date
    Jan 2005
    List Price
    $14.99

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Description

Les Costello's story is the stuff of Canadian myth: a child of immigrant parents who finds fame and some fortune on the ice as a star on the Toronto Maple Leafs, with whom he wins the coveted Stanley Cup. At the height of his meteoric sports career, he gives it all up to pursue another dream: to become a parish priest in the northern mining community where he was raised. He quickly earns the respect and love of the community due to his blunt, plainspoken, passionate commitment to social justice. He also creates discomfort in the Catholic establishment with his unconventional and challenging approach to parish life.

Les Costello became most widely known through his involvement in the Flying Fathers. Begun as a one-off prank, the hockey team he founded, comprised of priests, became a huge success. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's the team traveled across Canada raising millions of dollars for charities.

Les Costello: Canada's Flying Father is the biography of a tough-talking, justice-seeking, fiery man of deep spirituality who reinvents himself by converting the skills and stamina of an athlete into the lifelong vocation of the truly inspired pastoral leader.

About the author

CHARLIE ANGUS is a nationally recognized politician, author, and musician. He has published nine books and is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the Trillium Book Award finalist Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower. Angus has served in the Canadian Parliament for twenty years. He has earned a national reputation as a fierce fighter for social justice and Indigenous rights. Angus was the founding member of Toronto punk band L’etranger. He is the leader of the roots band Grievous Angels; their ninth album is Last Call for Cinderella. Angus lives in Cobalt, Ontario, with his wife, author Brit Griffin. They have three daughters.

Charlie Angus' profile page