A moving story of family, loss, love, and hope: Dave Mishkin, the voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning, gives us a tender, big-hearted debut with his novel Blind Squirrel!

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Noah Nicholson has a gift. He is blessed with extraordinary hand-eye coordination. This gift has helped him build a successful career as a minor-league hockey player. But Noah is damaged. His parents died in a car accident when he was twelve, and he has dealt with mental health issues ever since. It’s only after Noah loses his gift in a career-ending injury that he is able to begin the healing process.

Readers will meet indelible characters: Noah’s mother, cerebral and mentally tough; his good-natured, even-keeled father; his crusty grandmother, who has a soft spot for Boston’s sports teams; his effervescent, talented, Russian-born teammate, who becomes Noah’s mentee; an orange cat whose meow doesn’t have an ‘m’; an eleven-year-old girl who looks like Pippi Longstocking; and the pediatric dentist with a sense of humor and a crooked smile who makes her way past Noah’s defenses and captures his heart. Then, of course, there is Noah himself. Smart, selfless, and silently struggling. We cheer for Noah, but unlike the fans who come to watch him play, it is not in appreciation of his singular, one-of-a-kind gift. Instead, we cheer for Noah because he is plainly, ordinarily human.

Dave Mishkin has been the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning since 2002. Before that, he spent eleven years as a broadcaster in hockey’s minor leagues. Eight of those were in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where much of this novel takes place. He is a 1991 graduate of Yale University. Blind Squirrel is his first novel.

Paul Kennedy is an American sportscaster and writer with Bally Sports Florida and FOX Sports. He has called games and hosted a variety of national and regional telecasts for more than 30 years primarily with FOX, ESPN, Sunshine Network, Fox Sports Florida, and Raycom Sports. He currently hosts telecasts for the three time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, after serving in a similar role with the NBA Orlando Magic and MLB Florida Marlins.

For 23 seasons he called Florida State football telecasts and other select sports for the Seminole program. He also has called college basketball games for FSN and syndicated telecasts of SEC and ACC football and basketball. His National Football League resume includes three seasons with NFL Europe and select NFL On FOX action. Kennedy was the host of the Miami Dolphins Monday Night Magazine for six years and Bucs Diaries, showcasing Tampa Bay in its march to the Super Bowl.

Prior to his television assignments in Florida, Kennedy worked at the University of Alabama and was the first to serve as the radio play-by-voice for both Crimson Tide football and basketball as well as baseball. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he began his collegiate career at the University of Richmond before working in marketing and media relations at Vanderbilt University.