Tales of Brooklyn

Every hero must have an origin story, and that includes New York media icon Stan Fischler. Known by millions of sports fans as "The Maven," Fischler has written over 100 books on hockey, baseball, and transit systems—now he turns to his own story.

Fischler has written for national publications, met celebrities, and co-produced an award-winning documentary. But before all this, he was just a simple New York kid speeding around on his Roadmaster, riding the Coney Island Cyclone, and watching a double feature at the Kismet every Saturday.

"Tales of Brooklyn" is a collection of humorous and poignant stories that gives a fascinating glimpse of growing up in New York City during the Depression and WWII eras. Fischler's intimate circle of family and friends will shape him into the Hall of Fame hockey writer that he becomes.

Loaded with nostalgic scenes of joy and sorrow, this origin story presents us with the moments that made "The Maven."

Stan Fischler, known as The Hockey Maven, is a December 2021 inductee to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. He has won eight New York Emmy awards and the Lester Patrick Award for his contributions to ice hockey in the United States. He has covered hockey in print, broadcast or online for over 50 years.
In other realms -- particularly the underground -- he's known as The Subway Maven. Stan's book, Uptown, Downtown, was the original history of the New York subway system. He wrote a sequel, The Subway, and he's also written histories of the metropolitan-area commuter railroads as well as books on subways and transit systems around the world. A semi-autobiographical book, Confessions of a Trolley Dodger from Brooklyn, sold out.
During the 1970s, Stan and his wife, Shirley, ran the New York bureau of the Toronto Daily Star. Stan interviewed such celebrities as New York Mayor John Lindsay, actress Carol Channing and actor Jerry Stiller. He covered major events such as the New York City and Newark race riots and major sporting events such as the World Series and the American debut of international soccer star Pele. When the Rolling Stones visited New York for a concert, he interviewed them as well as early film stars such as Ruby Keeler and Mae West.
Fischler has written for many publications, including The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Sport, Newsweek, Hockey Digest and The Hockey News. Fischler has authored or co-authored more than 100 books; in addition to the titles mentioned above, he has written extensively on both hockey and baseball.
For television, Fischler co-produced an award-winning documentary, Little Rink, about table hockey, and produced, wrote and emceed a Metro Channel series, Subway Series, which won several awards. Stan has also appeared on many NHL documentaries over the years.
Whenever he had the time, Stan did stand-up comedy in Manhattan and Long Island. As a historian, he gave tours sponsored by the 92d Street Y, including walks through Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the Catskills (the Borscht Belt), where he once played drums in a dance band.
In January 1999, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani designated Fischler a Centennial Historian of the City of New York.
Today, Fischler does weekly historic features for NHL.com as well as for the New York Islanders (the column is called "Maven's Memories") and the New Jersey Devils ("Sundays with Stan"). His hockey newsletter, The Fischler Report, is the only 52-weeks-a-year publication of its kind and is in its 29th year. It now appears online along with Stan's new online hockey segment, "Java Jive."
Fischler holds a master's degree in education from Long Island University and has taught news and feature writing at Queens College, Columbia University and Fordham University. Dozens of interns he has mentored over the years are now in prominent TV, print-media, or NHL-related roles.
Stan now lives in Israel with his youngest son, Simon, his daughter-in-law, Lilach, three grandchildren, and an assortment of dogs.