Talking Figure Skating: Behind the Scenes in the World's Most Glamorous Sport

Sarah Robertson is the trade, scholarly, and reference editor of the
Canadian Book Review Annual.

Beverley Smith, the author of Figure Skating: A Celebration (1994), has
covered the figure-skating scene for The Globe and Mail since 1980.

A Year in Figure Skating is an insightful and balanced review of the
1995–96 season, with individual chapters on the world junior, U.S.,
European, Canadian, and world championships; the Champions Series final;
skating in Israel and China; and professional events. The book is
lavishly illustrated with full-color photos and includes a moving
tribute to the legendary pairs skater Sergei Grinkov, who died of a
heart attack early in the season.

The terrain is less familiar in Talking Figure Skating, which profiles
skating’s most important behind-the-scenes players. Individual
chapters are devoted to skating parents (including the Kwans, the
Eldredges, the Dushesnays, and the appalling Suzanne Bonaly), bootmakers
(the late John Knebli), coaches (Frank Carroll, Christy Ness, Paul
Wirtz), makeup artists (Linda Bradley), judges (Suzanne Francis), music
specialists (Leonore Kay), choreographers (Sarah Kawahara, Marina
Zoueva, Bob Paul, Lori Nichol, and Peter Oppegard), sports psychologists
(Peter Jensen), and sports-medicine doctors (Robert Lee). Also included
are profiles of the Canadian SpecSkaters (a group of fans who wear
fluorescent-pink sweat-shirts to signal their presence at skating
events); Karen Preston and Jaimee Eggleton, principal skaters with the
Disney on Ice tour; and Gary Beacom, “skating’s best-loved
oddball.” As portrayed in this frank, wide-ranging, and regrettably
index-free book, the figure-skating world is an intensely hermetical one
that makes extraordinary physical and psychological demands on those who
inhabit it.

Casual fans will appreciate the glitz of competition that informs A
Year in Figure Skating. For the hard-core enthusiast, Talking Figure
Skating provides a fascinating look at the world beyond the spotlights.