A gift for me

[skateflo]

For those of you who enjoy reading novels about skating, there is a new one and I am so excited!

For many years there was a publication called Tracings - focused on New England and gradually added more national and international material as well. In it was a long and absolutely wonderful series about an adult skater that I had wished had been published as a book. It was written by Eugene Turner. He captured so many of my own feelings as an adult learner of skating. In some ways it is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it, even though some aspects (like patch) have changed - it was the range of inner feelings that so touched me and gave me hope, and made me feel not so alone.

Well, he now has self-published a novel call "The Skaters." This man, at 81 and still teaching, has such knowledge of the skating world and especially the thoughts and feelings of skaters, young and old, that this bound to be a great read. I am ordering multiple copies for myself and friends.

He has a web page where you can learn about him, read excerpts from the book, and how to order it (certainly one of the least expensive ones you'll find this season.

So I am basing this recommendation merely as a personal one from reading his past work - I do not have any connection with him at all! His ad was just published in the new PSA magazine (I am a patron member, not a coach.)

If you want to give yourself a gift for all your hard work skating - this is bound to give you a lift.

[skateflo]

OOps, in my excitement, I forgot to post is web page:

www.eturnerbooks.com

[melanieuk]

Thank you for that information.

I love reading and skating.

The last fictional skating book I read was Ice Castles in 1980!
I have since lost that book and have tried to obtain a copy in the UK, with no success so far.

I would like to read Tracings first.
I tried an Amazon search for both titles in the UK, but they don't seem to have them.
:roll:

I've just ordered Pretty Girls in Little Boxes though....my Xmas present to myself.
A friend is lending me the Ice Castles video, which I've never seen.

[skateflo]

Mel,

The magazine Tracings ceased publication several years ago. As I am a collector and was so touched by the serial, I photocopied all the sections and put it in a file folder. I would be happy to make a copy and send it to you if you would like.

Ice Castles is frequently on several used book web sites - try abe.com.uk

Let me know if I can help you.

There has been several fiction books in recent years, but all have USA settings. And there are some classics that are really wonderful - White Boots, Skate to a Mountain Song, etc.

Doris

[melanieuk]

I managed to find a copy of Ice castles, so I've ordered that too. ;)
I wonder if it'll be the same, reading it after all these years!!

I would be so chuffed if you could send me a copy of the Tracings - that is SO kind of you. :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by melanieuk
Thank you for that information.

I love reading and skating.

The last fictional skating book I read was Ice Castles in 1980!
I have since lost that book and have tried to obtain a copy in the UK, with no success so far.

Melanie, one ice-skating book that is still, as far as I know, in print here in the UK, is Noel Streatfeild's White Boots*, which I think not only would you enjoy, but your eldest will love in a year or so. But it is a bit dated now - the children spend all their time working on figures, and the heroine is continually in trouble for concentrating on her free skating, at the expense of her figures!


*It's sometimes called Skating Shoes, but White Boots is the author's original title.

[melanieuk]

Annabel, yes I see BOTh those titles?

Are they the same book?

White Boots (http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0007111576.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

Skating Shoes (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394908813/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/202-7681333-7207052) but this one is out of print.

[Mrs Redboots]

Yes, they're the same. I recommend it. Well, I'd read any and all Noel Streatfeild I can get my hands on, including the increasingly rare adult titles (although at least one publishing house is reissuing some of them), but this one is particularly special.

[melanieuk]

LOL, I've just ordered it!

Well I got £20 from my sister to buy my two test medals (have you seen them? They look so cheap!) so instead I've purchased 3 books:


Ice Castles
Pretty Girls in Little Boxes
White Boots

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by melanieuk
LOL, I've just ordered it!

Well I got £20 from my sister to buy my two test medals (have you seen them? They look so cheap!) so instead I've purchased 3 books:


Ice Castles
Pretty Girls in Little Boxes
White Boots
And very nice too - a medal just gathers dust, but books can be read and re-read. I've not come across Ice Castles, I must say, but I've read the other two. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes (or whatever way round it is) makes grim reading.

My coach has, of recent months, had one of his pupils to stay with increasing frequency, mostly due to the fact that her grandfather has been terminally ill. I thought of that book the morning they all crawled into the rink, obviously suffering from a surfeit of Thorpe Park on the previous day!

[kayskate]

Ice Castles the movie came out in 1979. The book about the same time. I read the book when it was first pulished and still have the old dog eared copy. I read it again recently. I was able to catch a few technical errors, since I know much more about skating now. However, the book was very enjoyable. The movie is the best of the popular skating films (IMO) b/c there is a lot of skating in it.

Lynn Holly Johnson (the woman who played the central character) did her own skating and was a competitive US skater. She placed in the novice category at Nats (1974?). At the time she was cast in Ice Castles she was skating professionally. There was an article about her in the USFSA mag w/in the last couple of years.

Ice Castles is also available on DVD and includes the original movie trailer. My husband jokes that I have seen the movie 100x on video now I am working on 100x on DVD. You can find the book, video, and even a photo novel on ebay. I bought the photo novel a few years ago.

Kay

[melanieuk]

I've never seen the film either, but a friend is willing to lend me her copy.
Ebay is great - but in the UK we have a teensy selection to choose from, compared to you.
I have bought goods on Ebay from the US, but I had to order a banker's draft, wait 2 -3 days for it to be sent to me and snail mail it off to the US, and it put me off a bit - I don't have enough time to fiddle about at banks!
There was some problem disabling me from using BillPoint or Paypal or whatever.
Also tax is added to some packages, like with another item I bought online from US - when I collected it at post office, I had to pay another £5. :roll:
Not to mention postage/shipping costs!


Doris, have your copies arrived yet?

[skateflo]

Mel,

I know what you mean about doing transatlantic purchasing and mailing. I air mailed to you today a copy of Turner's original novella. I had emailed him about his current book (how many pages) and have not heard back from him.

We have a publication here in the states that just came out with the 3rd edition - called Skater's Edge Sourcebook. There is a huge chapter in it about skating books, more than 1200 and counting. And it also cross-references them by category. I was one of the original contributors to the book chapter.

When I get the new book, I'll send you a photocopy of the fiction section and perhaps I could order some for you and send via mail bag.

I remember one fiction book that I started reading while in Scotland that took me over 2 years to find a copy for myself! It was called Winter's Gold by Margaret Kirk, 1992. And in 1999 came out Dreams of Gold by Maynard Thomson - also a good read.

Other fiction that I particularly enjoyed:Skates for Marty/Barbara Clayton, 1959; Skate to a Mountain Song/Eiseman & Sladkus 1966; The Skates of Uncle Richard/ Carol Fenner, 1978.

You might check your public library for these older books. Do you have interlibrary loan in the UK (where they will get you a book that is housed in another library?)

And of course, there are numerous biographies by skaters over the years that are wonderful.

One by one, go into every used/second hand book shop you can. Skating books are not generally listed on internet sites as the stores may have only a few books...My friend and I scoured Edingburgh and ironically found the same book (unknown to either of us) in stores next to each other! So we each were able to add this to our collection.

My collection now totals 585....I love skating books!!

[melanieuk]

585 skating books? WOW!

The library service does let me borrow books from other libraries, yes.
I have searched the library internet for skating books, under "figure skating/ice skating", but again the selection is limited.
The main problem is that I'm ignorant of the authors' names.
Maybe an author search would be more successful, so I'll try the names you gave later.
Thank you so much for sending me the novella.
Post will be a bit slow here, but I'll let you know when it arrives. Thank you again. :D

I'm off to listen to my little girl singing Christmas songs at nursery just now....
Tis the season to be jolly...... ! :roll:

[melanieuk]

Oh dear, I am becoming an Amazon-oholic. I've just bought a fourth (skating) book in a week!
Skating for Gold [Paperback] by Robin Cousins for £3.70 - what a bargain to be ignored! :roll:

[blue111moon]

I have ordered Turner's book and am waiting impaitienly for it to come. I loved his columns in "Tracing." I really miss that magazine.

Revently I found a reissue of Susan Andersen's 1995 romance/romantic suspense "On Thin Ice" which is about skaters in a prefession ice show and the FBI undercover cop investigating drug dealing and deaths that seem to follow it's tour. It's in bookstores now.

But most of the skating fiction I've found is either self-published like Turner's book, or from small press print-on-demand sites. Joan Bartlett's "Nice Shows" and "Judge Me Nottingham" skating mysteries were entertaining examples - nothing to strain the brain but at least the skating scenes are solid. The first of Teresa Morgan's two skating novels "Satin and Steel" is out in paperback now, with "A risk worth Taking" scheduled for the next month or so.

"Kates for Marty" is a classic. If you can find it, Zoe Sherburne's "Ballerina on Skates" is good, too. Both are very dated but still worth reading.

[skateflo]

blue111 moon--

I just finished reading Bartlett's books, thought the first one was the best.

How did you find out about Teresa Morgan? I'm not familiar with her or her books. Is there some search you use to locate skating related fiction?

[blue111moon]

Teresa Morgan had a note on the skatefic mailing list (which is pretty dead now) a year or so ago with the link to her website:

Teresa Morgan (http://www.teresamorgan.com)

I found the Susan Anderson book by accident in the bookstore and the Turner book through my skating club's e-mail list. Other than that, every so often, I do a search on Google and Amazon for "skating fiction" and see what comes up.

[melanieuk]

Here's another one that won't be available to the UK for another 10 years or so!!

Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner - Forever Two as One, written with Martha Kimball.

[melanieuk]

I just found Dreams of Gold by Maynard Thomson in my local library! I'll get it tomorrow.

Has anyone any more suggestions for a good read (fact or fiction)?
I can try my local library if I have the author's names.

[Blue Line]

melanieuk,
You might want to check out the skatefic mailing list's webpage. They have links, I believe, to online fiction about skating as well as print skating books. Checking the archives of the mailing list might give you a few leads, too!

http://users.tellurian.com/lizwoolf/skatefic.html

[skateflo]

Mel - ask your librarian for help. There are master lists by subject, try skating and then skating fiction. And there is also a big reference book for "books in print."

I just may go to my library and do the same! Many books never make it across the Atlantic.

I just got the 3rd edition of the Skater's Edge Sourcebook and penciled all the books (fiction) published since 1980 that are not juvenile. Sadly, the list is short. Perhaps later I will post what I find for all that might be interested.

[melanieuk]

Blue Line, thank you for that link. I tried the titles/authors on my online library search, but no joy there.
Doris, I will ask at the library. Maybe they can find more on their system.
I can also search by topic, and I've tried Skating and variations of, but there are only about 5 skating books that come up that way (for the entire inter-library), and I've read them!

I'm reading White Boots now. :)
Ice Castles was good _ i must've hardened over the last 20 years, because this time I didn't cry!
It was a shock to see so many technical errors in it though....I didn't notice those when I was a child!
:D

[skateflo]

I just received an email from Mr. Eugene Turner re his new novel The Skaters.

He had been ill since Thanksgiving and was just now able to check his email.

His book is 188 pages, normal size paperback.

I can't wait to get my copy! An adult read!