Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 21, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba CO M I N G S O O N ! Read the Winter issue at: winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features Available in your Free Press (subscribers) on March 29 and at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! DON’T MISS THE SPRING 2025 ISSUE TUESDAY JANUARY 21, 2025 ● ARTS & LIFE EDITOR: JILL WILSON 204-697-7018 ● ARTS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ARTS ● LIFE SECTION C CONNECT WITH THE BEST ARTS AND LIFE COVERAGE IN MANITOBA ▼ In memoir, sportscaster recounts his son’s death and the rise of a recovery centre in his name O VER the course of nearly 50 years as a broadcaster, Scott Oake’s wry, witty and insightful commentary at the Olym- pic Games and as a Hockey Night in Canada contributor has elevated him to the pantheon of Canadian sports journalism greats. But none of Oake’s successes prepared him for the struggles of a family member struggling with addiction. In his new book For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Hope, co-written with Edmonton author Michael Hingston, the 71-year- old Oake details his son Bruce’s spiral into drug use and eventual overdose death in 2011 at age 25. The memoir also covers the establishment of the Bruce Oake Foundation and Bruce Oake Recovery Centre by Oake and his wife Anne; as well as Anne’s death in 2021, months after the centre opened its doors. Oake launches the book tonight at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location, where he’ll be joined in conversation by Shelagh Rogers. Proceeds from the book’s sales will go towards the foundation, now named for both Bruce and Anne. Oake was initially approached by a book agent about writing about his career. “My response to that was ‘not a chance’ — I wouldn’t subject anybody to that book,” Oake says, laughing, while discussing his memoir in one of the recovery centre’s light-filled meet- ing rooms. A photo of Oake and his son hang on a nearby wall. “I did tell him I would have an ap- petite to write a book that told Bruce’s story, and explained how the centre got built.” He was put in touch with Hingston, who worked with Oake to hone 80-90 hours of conversations into book form. “He did a spectacular job. I’m really indebted to him for the time he took,” Oake says. For the Love of a Son follows the Oakes as they welcome two boys to the world — first Bruce and then, two years later, Darcy. As Bruce got older, his behaviour became more volatile, and he was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette syndrome. Bruce immersed himself in boxing and rap music, but his increasingly reckless path led to more dangerous drug use. Scott and Anne helped Bruce get into various treatment programs, with varying degrees of success, but on March 28, 2011, four days after being kicked out of his second stint at Cal- gary’s Simon House Recovery Centre, he died of an overdose. For Oake, detailing Bruce’s life in book form brought no relief. “It was hard, really hard. Some people might think it was cathartic, but it wasn’t,” he says. “Cathartic is a psychological release through a lot of emotion. It was nothing like that; reliving Bruce’s journey through the written word, especially the last four or five years of his life, was incredibly difficult.” Oake was adamant his son’s story be shared with those who might be grappling with the same struggles. “The whole motivation behind the book was people would know that they’re not alone. A lot of families are going through struggles like we did,” he says. “One of the messages of the book is that addiction doesn’t discriminate. It knows no socioeconomic boundaries and can come for anyone at any time, and we should treat it the way we treat any disease. The people who have the disease of addiction or substance abuse should have an opportunity to get their health back, which is what 50 men are doing here right now.” ● ● ● B RUCE’S is the first face you see when you walk through the front doors of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — his photo and urn are housed in a plexiglass case in the facility’s lobby. Getting the $15-million, 50-bed facil- ity for men built and opened involved numerous logistical hurdles as well as pushback from some in the communi- ty (and in public office), which Oake details in the second half of his book. Once the shuttered and neglected Vimy Arena on Hamilton Avenue was chosen as the spot for the centre, the Oakes and foundation members held public consultations and education sessions to help those in the communi- ty understand what the centre would entail. “What they didn’t know is that there’s a massive difference between active addiction and recovery,” says Oake. “Active addiction is ugly. It re- volves around drug-seeking behaviour, and our family knows as well as any- one how ugly it can be. Recovery is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s a beautiful thing, because those seeking it are focused on only one thing, and that’s their sobriety.” Since opening in 2021, the centre has stymied any doubt about its effective- ness and impact on the surrounding community. “Some who were vociferous op- ponents are now supporters of the centre, either through volunteering or just generally being supporters of the place,” Oake says. “It’s turned out exactly the way that we hoped it would. It’s made the neighbourhood a better place.” The sprawling 43,000-square-foot centre features floor-to-ceiling win- dows, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and a number of meeting rooms. “It’s bright, open, airy, and it screams ‘welcome home,’” says Oake. “It’s bathed in natural light, which is important in re- covery. It’s a beautiful place in which to get your health back.” Many of those who have completed treatment at the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre have gone on to work at the facility, or have served as ambassadors in the community. In Oake’s epilogue, he gives the last word to Terrence Mo- rin, a former inmate who went through the facility’s treatment program and is pursuing counselling certification at Yellowquill College. BEN SIGURDSON EVENT PREVIEW AN EVENING WITH SCOTT OAKE, LAUNCH- ING FOR THE LOVE OF A SON: A MEMOIR OF ADDICTION, LOSS, AND HOPE ● McNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Ave. ● Tonight, 7 p.m. ● Free MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Writing a memoir focused his eldest son’s overdose death was ‘hard, really hard’ says Scott Oake. DIFFICULT ROAD to a ‘beautiful place’ ● CONTINUED ON C2 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Above: Jerseys hang from the gymnasium of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre as a tribute to clients on the first anniversary of their sobriety. At right: Bruce Oake’s photo and urn are the first things visitors to the centre see. ;