New bio about hockey legend, Larry Kwong, releasing from Five Rivers Publishing

VERNON, British Columbia - Feb. 3, 2015 - PRLog -- A revealing and fascinating biography about Larry Kwong, King Kwong: the China Clipper who broke the NHL colour barrier, releases March 1, 2015, from Five Rivers Publishing, written by British Columbia author, Paula Johanson.

Who is Larry Kwong? He is the Canadian player who broke the colour barrier in the NHL. A man whose professional hockey career statistics include leading the senior leagues for scoring and for low penalty minutes – and a single shift on the ice in an NHL game. He was scouted three times by NHL teams before that game, and courted away from the NHL to a powerful role in three different leagues before retiring.

He is Larry Kwong, a Canadian of Chinese descent born in Vernon BC in 1923, a hard-working man and World War II serviceman who played hockey most of his life.

Paula Johanson explores the life and accomplishments of the China Clipper, Larry Kwong, whose story is one of an indomitable spirit who triumphs in the face of adversity and social discrimination.

Chad Soon, Director of the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives and Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame (http://www.vernonmuseum.ca/hall_of_fame.html), says of the biography:

Author Paula Johanson brings justice to Kwong’s extraordinary life.  All the elements of classic fiction are here, and yet this is riveting history. We follow the ultimate long shot as he chases the 'impossible'…and triggers a shift in his society.

The striking cover is by Five Rivers' Art Director, Jeff Minkevics.

Author Paula Johanson has worked as a writer, teacher and editor. Among her twenty-nine books on science, health and literature the most recent are Love Poetry: How Do I Love Thee? (Enslow Publishers), What Is Energy? from the series Let’s Find Out! (Rosen Publishing), and the science fiction anthology Opus 6 (Reality Skimming Press).

An accredited teacher, she has written and edited curriculum educational materials. Recently she completed an MA in Canadian Literature at the University of Victoria.

A lifelong hockey fan, she listened on radio to the first Canada/Russia hockey series, and is proud to have played a pick-up game on a frozen pond.

ISBN 9781927400753, 6 x 9 Trade Paperback, 92 pages, eISBN 9781927400760