Darril Wayne Fosty (December 21, 1968) is a Canadian-born Pulitzer-nominated journalist, author, and documentarian.

History

Born in

Terrace, British Columbia Terrace is a city in the Skeena Country, Skeena region of west central British Columbia, Canada. This regional hub lies east of the confluence of the Kitsumkalum River into the Skeena River. On British Columbia Highway 16, BC Highway 16, junctions ...

on December 21, 1968, Fosty's family moved to

Kamloops, British Columbia Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the administrative centre ...

, where he started grade one. After high school, Fosty moved to

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, where he attended

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

majoring in history and journalism and graduating in 1992. In 1994, Fosty wrote press releases for the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

sports information department. After leaving the Sounders, he worked for the Internet security start-up Zendit, now Authora. In 2003, Fosty released his first book with his brother George, ''Splendid is the Sun: The 5,000 Year History of Hockey''. In 2004, he released the book ''Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League, 1895-1925'' which was featured in a short documentary on ESPN and featured on Oprah.com "Books That Made A Difference". The book is credited with the revival of the history of the

Colored Hockey League The Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHL) was an all-black ice hockey league founded in Nova Scotia in 1894, which featured teams from across Canada's Maritime Provinces. The league operated for several decades lasting until 1930. Hist ...

the Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

. A documentary short written, produced, and directed by Fosty in conjunction with the National Hockey League Diversity Program called ''Black Ice'' was the winner of Best Documentary Short at the 2008 Roxbury Film Festival in Boston. Darril and his brother George were honored by the Shaka Franklin Foundation of Denver, Colorado, for the creation of "The Black Ice Project" and their ongoing efforts to preserve Black history (2008), teaching awards from George Washington University for the book ''Black Ice'' (2011) and John G. Dennison Award in 2020 by the Black History Ottawa board for the promotion of Canadian Black history and culture. In 2013, the Fosty brothers' book ''Where Brave Men Fall: The Battle of Dieppe and the Espionage War Against Hitler, 1939-1942'' pointed a damning finger at American and British news organizations, including ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', accusing the publications of leaking the Battle of Dieppe pre-raid information to the Germans resulting in the deaths, woundings, and capture of over 4,300 American, British and Canadian soldiers. In 2022,

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

Maverick Carter Maverick Carter is an American sports marketing businessman and executive who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of SpringHill Company, Uninterrupted, and the Robot Company, all part of the holding company LRMR Ventures, which he co-founded wi ...

produced

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball, North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching care ...

' Toronto Film Festival award-winning documentary film ''

Black Ice Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a coating of glaze ice on a surface, for example on streets or on lakes. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it and light to be ...

'', based on the Fosty brothers' historical research discussing Black hockey history, racial justice, and diversity. In 2022, Fosty released the book ''Nais-Myth: Basketball's Stolen Legacy'' which credits the invention of basketball to a 16-year-old volunteer director at the

Herkimer, New York Herkimer is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica, New York, Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 9,566 at the 2020 census, down from 10,175 in ...

, Y.M.C.A. named Lambert Will who invented the game of basketball in 1891 only to have his idea taken and credited to

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Scottish-Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United State ...

Personal life

Fosty is currently living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and is the co-founder of the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers and founder and editor-in-chief of CardBiz.ca.

Non-fiction

*''Splendid Is The Sun: The 5,000 Year History of Hockey'' (2003). *''Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes'' (2004). *''Footie's Black Book: A Guide To International Association Football (World Cup Soccer 2010 Edition)'' (2010). *''Where Brave Men Fall: The Battle of Dieppe And The Allied Espionage War Against Hitler, 1939–1942'' (2013). *''Tribes: An International Hockey History'' (2014). *''Creating Excellence: Inside the World of Stryker-Indigo'' (2014). *''Nais-Myth: Basketball's Stolen Legacy'' (2022). *''Coiled Dragon: From Soccer to AI, China's Upcoming War with America'' (2024). *''Collectors Guide To O-Pee-Chee Hockey Cards, 1933-1995'' (2024). *''Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 20th Anniversary Edition'' (2025).

Fiction

*''Apocalypse 2012 Cookbook: An End of the World Cooking and Survival Guide for the Man, Woman and Family On the Run'' (2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fosty, Darril 1968 births Canadian expatriate writers in the United States Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian sportswriters Journalists from British Columbia Living people People from Terrace, British Columbia Writers from British Columbia