Hello lovers of great literature! (and also people who like the kind of books I write!)
My name is Kevin Sylvester and I'm the author and illustrator of Gold medal for Weird.
I'm a broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Service. I spent most if the past 10 years as a sportscaster and was lucky to attend several Olympic Games. I saw a lot of silly things, such as the guy in the tutu who disrupted the diving competition in Athens and the lucky coin that helped Canada win the gold medal in hockey in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Then there's the story of the mysterious boy who helped win a gold medal, then disappeared into the crowd and was never seen again. How can you not write a book when you know weird stuff like that!
The book is designed to be "easy to read". That means that each story fits on its own page, with one of my goofy illustrations. You can dip in and start almost anywhere and can even put the book down for weeks without worrying about forgetting the characters and plot. I got the idea from my love of baseball cards. When I was growing up the cards always had a silly anecdote about the player on the back with an equally silly cartoon. So the book is like a collection of those stories crammed together.
As for my life, I don't pee on my hands or play baseball. I was born just outside Buffalo, New York a long time ago and grew up near the roaring water of Niagara Falls. Sports were always a big part of my life growing up, from watching the Buffalo Sabres on TV to throwing footballs around my backyard with my brothers.
I moved north to Canada in 1984, to go to school. I still live in Toronto with my wife and two daughters. It's great because I can freeze a hockey rink in my backyard each winter and spend most of February picking errant pucks off of my neighbor's garage roof.
I have published two other books so far. Shadrin Has Scored for Russi" came out in 2001. It's a spoof of the 1972 hockey series between Canada and the Soviet Union.
My first book for kids Sports Hall of Weird came out a couple of years ago. It looks a bit like this book, but has different stories, like the one about the baseball players who pees on his hands. It was a Silver Birch Honour Book in 2006.
I also have a couple of books due out in 2010. One is about a boy chef named Neil Flambé who cooks amazing meals and also solves mysteries. The other is a picture book about a poor girl who wants to play hockey. It's called Splinters.
I hope you like Gold Medal for Weird and that it gives you at least a few chuckles while you read.