I have just found out through the Society for International Hockey Research’s quarterly newsletter that Dr. Eugene Willis passed away at the end of January. I wanted to mention this to everyone because Gene was a long-time Seals fan who played a large role in getting my book off the ground.

Gene was a big Seals fan, and he wanted to do something to commemorate the team’s 50th anniversary, so around April or May 2017, Gene contacted me and asked if I wanted to participate in a Seals 50th Anniversary Night in Toronto that would be held in October, about two weeks before my book’s release. I was a little hesitant at first since I had never been to Toronto on my own, and I definitely was not going to drive out there since I was not at all familiar with the city. So it was up to me to get a hotel room, and a train ticket, and try to figure out how to get from point A to point B without screwing anything up. I’m not a terribly organized person, so all of this was hinging on me not doing anything Steve-like. What can I say, he was very convincing, and the idea of meeting several former players and getting some autographs, not to mention selling a bunch of books started sounding like good ideas. We spoke over the phone and communicated by e-mail for several weeks, often expressing concern about players who said they would come to the event but changed their minds at the last minute, not to mention waiting for my publisher to send advanced copies to Gene in Toronto. Gene also took it upon himself to not only accept delivery of the 25 books I had sent over from the University of Nebraska Press, but he carted them over to the event as well, which saved me a lot of trouble and effort.

In the end, everything worked out perfectly. Gene took charge of organizing the whole event at St. Michael’s College, and he even ordered pizza for everyone who arrived early. He spoke to the crowd about the Seals’ history, and he brought out all of his old Seals and Barons jerseys, as well as his personal collection of hockey cards, memorabilia, and a few photo boards which he lovingly put together.

We had a big crowd, I sold lots of books, got some autographs, shook hands with four former NHL players, had my first-ever interview (with fellow writer Greg Oliver), and made some great personal connections with players and fans.

At the end of the event, Gene also gave all of the players, and myself, a binder of custom cards he had made of the entire 1967-68 team, which I still have on the bookshelf in my office. He also gave me a few extra cards featuring the players at the event so I could get a couple extra autographs. It was a wonderful evening which will probably never happen again due to logistics, but if it does happen again we’ll have a great template for how to do it.

R.I.P. Gene and thanks for your support.

All photos courtesy of Greg Oliver.