Don Reddick


Editors' Queries


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Killing Frank McGee, a novel

"...the only Hall of Fame athlete to be killed in action..."

Dear Editor,

He was the nephew of an assassinated Father of Confederation, the very first superstar on the very first dynasty in the history of hockey. And he was the only legitimate Hall of Fame athlete of any sport to be killed in action fighting for his country.

His name was Frank McGee.

Contemporary accounts describe McGee's remarkable career, his well-documented scoring ability, and the fact that he played only four seasons before abruptly retiring in March, 1906. Invariably theses articles end with the obligatory, '...and McGee joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and gave his life overseas, in 1916.' Gave his life overseas...a haunting, unexplored line rendered secondary to his athletic exploits, expressed almost as an after thought. And so I have explored this man's remarkable ice hockey carreer as well as this haunting reality, and the result is my historical novel entitled, Killing Frank McGee.

I am the author of Dawson City Seven, a novel about the group of Dawson City, Yukon hockey players who made the infamous 1905 trek across Canada to play the Ottawa Silver Seven for the Stanley Cup. Published in Canada in 1993, I completed the publisher's longest book tour in their history. I have also published articles in the Society of International Hockey Research Journal, and have appeared in documentaries about the Dawson story.

If you would like to look at the manuscript, please let me know. I thank you very much for your time, and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Don Reddick

508-668-5152
www.donreddick.com
don@donreddick.com