'Down and Back' traces alcoholism, hockey, and family

Down and Back: On Alcohol, Family, and a Life in Hockey.

by Justin Bourne

Justin Bourne is plugged into life's mixed blessings. As the son of a famous hockey player, he has seen his share of them. Bob Bourne won four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders. He was a great centre and a well-loved doer of good deeds off the ice.

He was also alcoholic, useless with money, and divorced from his wife and two sons, Jeff and Justin, by the time they were 11 and eight years old.

Jeff was born with spina bifida, and Justin grew up with a strong sense of duty to his single mom and  big brother. He followed the old man into professional hockey, and into alcoholism. Bob Bourne had the bigger, and perhaps luckier career as a player. Justin excelled as a hockey analyst, blogger, and commentator.

He has been dry, four years and counting. With this book Justin Bourne is publicly cheering for his dad to find sobriety, too.

Justin's autobiography is about intergenerational alcoholism. He is profoundly grateful for the support of his wife Brianna Gillies. Her dad, Clarke, and Justin's Dad, Bob, were Islanders teammates and pals.

When he and Brianna were first dating, Justin says "My roommates were sending me videos of Clark Gillies beating the high holy shit out of giant NHLers, just as a reminder of what I was getting myself into."

Down and Back is also a reaffirmation of Justin's personal 'higher powers' in sobriety – Brianna, his mom, his brother, his kids, and all the people who stood by him through his wasted years.

Bourne offers encouragement to readers whose lives are unmanageable because of booze. He presents a how-to, or perhaps a how-not-to guide for serious young hockey players. His book is also a romp for a quippy writer,