Writers’ Union Member. Hockey historian and author. Available for school and library visits. Eric’s rate is $300 for one session, $500 for two, or $750 for three, plus HST. Mileage costs can often be negotiated for multiple bookings or for presentations in the GTA. For virtual visits, the fee is $200 per session.
By the age of ten Eric Zweig was already a budding sports fanatic who was filling his school news books with game reports instead of current events. He’s been writing professionally about sports and sports history since 1985. Eric has also been a guest on many television and radio programs, appearing as a “Hockey Philosopher” in the CBC series Hockey: A People’s History in 2006. Presentation: Since 1999, when Eric began writing books for children, he has made many presentations in schools, libraries and bookstores.
His presentation is very low-tech and tends to be somewhat informal. His talks have more energy when he doesn’t keep to a rigid script. However, he always has a general plan prepared for each presentation. Eric likes to emphasize to schoolchildren that writing does not just mean thinking up creative stories. Most of the writing we do in our lives – for school or for work – will be non-fiction.
Though he has written two novels, and can speak to that too, for Eric, working mostly on historical non-fiction, writing can be like detective work. Often, he has to do a lot of research to find the truth behind the legends in sports. This is the best part of what he gets to do. He likes to discover things that no one else knows.
In talking about research, Eric always explains how the Internet can make this so much easier … but that a researcher has to be very careful about what type of sources to use. Eric likes to leave a lot of time for questions. If there are a lot of questions, it’s hard to cut off any children. If there aren’t a lot of questions, he can pick up the talk again, or do more readings, with a better idea of what the children want to hear about.
Length of Visit Generally, Eric’s presentations last for one hour, though they can be shorter to accommodate the time of your school periods. He is happy to do two, or even three talks per school visit, or combine two or three talks between different schools in the same area.
Grades Eric’s preference is to present to grades 4 to 6, but he’s comfortable with anything from grades 3 to 12. Venue Classrooms or libraries with groups ranging from 30 to 90 people are best. Gymnasiums can be difficult due to the acoustics, but Eric is happy to present to larger groups in a school gym or auditorium if need be. Please note: Eric’s surname is pronounced zwEYEg.