The Man. The Foil. The Legend.

When you hear the name Dave Hanson, reading probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

Hanson is best known for is memorable portrayal of “Jack Hanson,” one of the fight-starting, thick-glasses-wearing Hanson Brothers in the 1977 movie, “Slap Shot,” starring Paul Newman.

But as it turns out, he’s just as handy with a pen as he is with a hockey stick.

Hanson, general manager of the RMU Island Sports Center, will be appearing at Bridgewater BookFest on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 9 a.m to 3 p.m., in Bridgewater, Pa, where he will be selling and signing his autobiography, Slap Shot Original: The Man. The Foil. The Legend. Proceeds from the sales of the book will go to the Association of the Hole In The Wall Camps, which Newman founded in 1988.

Hanson was a defenseman for the St. Paul Vulcans and for the University of Minnesota, whose coach was the legendary Herb Brooks. After that, he played 10 seasons of professional hockey with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars of the NHL, and the New England Whalers, Minnesota Fighting Saints, and Birmingham Bulls of the WHA.

Also at Bridgewater BookFest, Nicole Bazner ’09, a graduate of RMU’s Elementary Education program, will be heading up the BookFest Children’s Tent. Bazner, who now works in the Canon Mac School District as a 2^nd grade teacher, was a student in Assistant Professor Michele N. Hipsky’s Special Needs and Assessment classes. At BookFest, she will be organizing and coordinating book readings, crafts, and other fun activities for the little ones.

Be sure to come to Bridgewater BookFest next Saturday to say hello to Nicole and get a signed copy of Dave’s new book. Just don’t get him angry. He may check you into the boards.

Ha! Just kidding! That was just in the movies.

(Seriously, don’t make him mad.)

--Valentine J. Brkich

Rest in peace, Reg

Trib sports writer Joe Starkey devoted his column yesterday to talking to Dave Hanson, general manager of the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center and one of the Hanson brothers from the 1977 comedy classic "Slap Shot." Hanson talks about his new book, the latest "Slap Shot" sequel, and of course, working with the late, great Paul Newman:

Like so many people, Hanson recalled Newman as a down-to-earth, decent man. Newman threw a cast party at his Beverly Hills home after "Slap Shot" came out and later offered to throw one for Hanson and his wife, Sue, a Nanty Glo native, on the way to their honeymoon in Hawaii. The couple declined, but accepted Newman's invite to join him and his actress wife, Joanne Woodward, at a Detroit auto race in the mid-1990's.

To this day, when people ask Hanson about "Slap Shot," they want to know what it was like to work with Newman, who was 52 at the time and a pretty decent skater.

"I always say, 'Well, you're asking it wrong,' " Hanson said, laughing. "It should be, 'How did Paul Newman feel about working with us?' " (link)

Congratulations, Dave. And Mr. Newman, you will be missed.