Here are the facts:
- Theoren Fleury gave a keynote speech at the Adäka Cultural Festival on July 2.
- Theoren Fleury was my favourite hockey player growing up; my hero.
- In November 2012 I wrote an editorial in this very publication arguing (quite convincingly, I think) that Fleury should be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- Theo somehow got ahold of the article and tweeted it.
- His ex-girlfriend wrote some kind words in the comment section below the article when it was posted on What’s Up Yukon’s website.
On May 22, when my mom informed me Fleury was coming to town, I got pretty excited.
Given this background information, and assuming that I have some leverage as editor of the local free-paper, one might have expected me to arrange a private interview with the man himself. Even my boss, Tammy Beese, was pushing for it. But alas, it did not happen.
I did try, though.
On June 23 I was given the email address of Fleury’s handler, Dawn Roberts. I composed her a short email explaining my press credentials and my desire for an interview. I even included a link to the aforementioned article, adding what I hoped would be some personal credibility to my request.
Dawn Roberts’ response wasunderwhelming:
“Hi Peter, Thank you for your email and interest in interviewing Theo. However, due to Theo’s already full calendar I am unable to schedule this request.”
Now as far as I know, Dawn Roberts’ job is to protect Theoren Fleury from media leeches like myself, so she cannot be blamed for her response. But any tenacious journalist will tell you that if you really want a story, a response like the one Dawn Roberts’ gave me is merely a volley in the game, not the final play.
I could have pressed harder for my interview, but I didn’t. Why?
The easy answer is that other responsibilities and various deadlines forced my attention elsewhere. There is some truth to that, but it’s not the whole story.
Interestingly, when I read Roberts’ blandly discouraging response I felt a twinge of relief.
Part of me wanted to remember Fleury as the larger-than-life figure I perceived him to be as a kid; part of me worried I would be secretly disappointed after meeting him.
So I canned the interview idea, but went to watch his keynote speech anyway; I couldn’t resist.
I was right; Fleury was not larger-than-life — he was very, very human.
He told the audience of his hockey triumphs and his personal tragedies of sexualized assault, addiction, and near-suicide. He did so with humour, intelligence, compassion, and an intensity that kept us riveted. At some points he was self-deprecating, at others he was self-aggrandizing.
But he was always real. And I appreciated that.
He also reinforced what I already knew but had chosen to ignore: heroes are heroes because of their realness, not in spite of it.
I felt foolish; there was no way I would have been secretly disappointed if I had met him and interviewed him; I would have been over-the-moon. What was I thinking?
Then, at the end of his talk, the MC announced that Fleury would be signing autographs. Here was one last chance to talk to him; surely if I kept my elbows up I could plow my way through the kids surrounding him and quickly shake his hand.
Instead, I chose not to meet him, but for different reasons this time. He’d done enough for me already.
