What do you think?
Rate this book
The Class: A Memoir of a Place, a Time, and Us
From bestselling author Ken Dryden, a riveting new book.
On Tuesday, September 6, 1960, the day after Labour Day, class 9G at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute in a suburb of Toronto assembled for the first time. Its thirty-five students, having written special exams, came to be known as the “Selected Class.”
They would stay together through high school, with few exceptions. They would spend more than two hundred days a year together. Few had known each other before. Few have been in other than accidental contact in all the decades since.
Their ancestors were almost all from working-class backgrounds. Their parents had lived their formative years through depression and war. They themselves were born into a postwar world of new homes, new schools, new churches. New suburbs. Of new classes like this one. Of boundless possibilities.
When almost anything seems within reach, what do we reach for?
Ken Dryden was one of these thirty-five. In his varied, improbable life, he had wondered often how he had gotten from there to here . How any of us do. He decided to try and find his classmates, to see how they are, what they are doing, how life has been for them. They talked many long hours, in a way they had never talked before. Most had married, some divorced, most have kids, many have grandkids.
This is the story of a place, a time, and so much more.
On Tuesday, September 6, 1960, the day after Labour Day, class 9G at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute in a suburb of Toronto assembled for the first time. Its thirty-five students, having written special exams, came to be known as the “Selected Class.”
They would stay together through high school, with few exceptions. They would spend more than two hundred days a year together. Few had known each other before. Few have been in other than accidental contact in all the decades since.
Their ancestors were almost all from working-class backgrounds. Their parents had lived their formative years through depression and war. They themselves were born into a postwar world of new homes, new schools, new churches. New suburbs. Of new classes like this one. Of boundless possibilities.
When almost anything seems within reach, what do we reach for?
Ken Dryden was one of these thirty-five. In his varied, improbable life, he had wondered often how he had gotten from there to here . How any of us do. He decided to try and find his classmates, to see how they are, what they are doing, how life has been for them. They talked many long hours, in a way they had never talked before. Most had married, some divorced, most have kids, many have grandkids.
This is the story of a place, a time, and so much more.
488 pages, Hardcover
Published October 17, 2023
24 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Ken Dryden
19 books94 followersKenneth Wayne "Ken" Dryden is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goaltender. He is an officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dryden was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2004, also serving as a cabinet minister from 2004 to 2006, until losing his seat in the 2011 Canadian federal elections to Conservative Mark Adler.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 24, 2024
Ken Dryden writes about his high school class - a group of 35 who wrote a test along with several Toronto area grade eight students - who were placed in a class that stayed together all through high school (Sept 1960).
I was in grade 9 in Ontario just a few years later. Dryden decided to contact his classmates almost 50 years later and then wrote about what was happening to Canadians relating to education, professions, financially in the time in the 1960's through CoVid. He has such a clear way of writing that it was like I was once again living through those decades.
I was in grade 9 in Ontario just a few years later. Dryden decided to contact his classmates almost 50 years later and then wrote about what was happening to Canadians relating to education, professions, financially in the time in the 1960's through CoVid. He has such a clear way of writing that it was like I was once again living through those decades.
April 9, 2024
An interesting topic for a book, for sure. I found Dryden's musings on life in Canada through each stage to be quite interesting, and somewhat reflective of where we are now. I did find that tracking each student through the 50 plus years a little distracting, as I couldn’t quite remember (for the most part at least) who did what when. Still a good read.
May 17, 2024
Approachable concept, Dryden writes about his "gifted" high school cohort at Etobicoke Collegiate, which started for them in 1960. Yet the delivery is lacking, and also the editing. Classmates blur into one another, as Dryden tries to fit their lives into what was happening in the greater world. This being a gifted group, many of these people are difficult to relate to. I grew up in Etobicoke too, in a less affluent area, and we never had the luxury to become professional grad students looking to find ourselves. By the time I entered high school there were no more such streams for high percentage students; it must have become unfashionable and elitist.
The best sections of this book are when Dryden writes about his own journey. At the age of 26, when he was approaching the peak of his hockey career, Dryden took a year off to article in the law. What a revelation to find out that Dryden never warmed up to law as a future profession. Instead, he became a lot of things; hockey team president, published author, politician.
Much of the early part of the book is a portrait of the early baby boomers, and all the idealism that came with it. For later boomers like me, times were different, and we didn't look at the world with such a hopeful gaze. Dryden does step aside to tell other people's stories, but again, this needed some serious organization and editing.
The best sections of this book are when Dryden writes about his own journey. At the age of 26, when he was approaching the peak of his hockey career, Dryden took a year off to article in the law. What a revelation to find out that Dryden never warmed up to law as a future profession. Instead, he became a lot of things; hockey team president, published author, politician.
Much of the early part of the book is a portrait of the early baby boomers, and all the idealism that came with it. For later boomers like me, times were different, and we didn't look at the world with such a hopeful gaze. Dryden does step aside to tell other people's stories, but again, this needed some serious organization and editing.
February 3, 2025
In 1960 Ken Dryden was one of 35 students admitted to an "advanced" class at Etobicoke Collegiate in Toronto. They stayed together for four years. In his 70s the former Montreal Canadiens goaltender, MP, cabinet minister and author decided to track down the members of "The Class" to see how their lives turned out. The result is a look at Canada in microcosm, albeit a sample that is mainly white and middle class, as they navigated their country's big issues as well as adapted to a changing societal landscape. Virtually all of them went to university and got married. Some continued the interests displayed at Etobicoke Collegiate throughout their professional lives (unbeknownst to me while working there, I knew one who converted his lifelong fascination with snakes into a research position at the University of Victoria). While one of the most recognized members of The Class, Dryden devotes equal time to all his classmates. The Class is as much a look at the Canadian landscape as it is a memoir at a time when baby boomers begin to ponder their mortality and their place in this world.
April 8, 2024
I never get tired of Ken Dryden: The Game, The Home Game, The 72 Series.
He wrote a masterpiece about Scotty Bowman, but it was also an history of the NHL.
In this one, he writes a collective memoir of his « brain class » of ‘65, but it ends up being a very comprehensive history of Canada in the 20th and 21st century.
This book must have been a challenge to write. It is about the past, the present and the future. It scores. Top net.
He wrote a masterpiece about Scotty Bowman, but it was also an history of the NHL.
In this one, he writes a collective memoir of his « brain class » of ‘65, but it ends up being a very comprehensive history of Canada in the 20th and 21st century.
This book must have been a challenge to write. It is about the past, the present and the future. It scores. Top net.
March 25, 2026
Ken Dryden has lived a full life, taking on many different roles over the years. Aside from his role as a six-time Stanley Cup winning goalie, he has worked as a lawyer, a member of parliament a cabinet minister, a university professor and a writer. In his personal life, he has also been a husband and father of two children. Dryden has already penned several critically acclaimed books on hockey, but this one is not about hockey or sports. Instead, Dryden has chosen to look back on his high school days at Etobicoke Collegiate in a Toronto suburb during the sixties. He was among a carefully selected group of students, all from working class backgrounds, who were chosen for an advanced academic stream that would go through high school together as a group. It was September 1960 when this elite group, known as grade 9G, was created and unofficially became known as the Brain Class. For the most part, they stayed together until they graduated in 1965 and then traveled their separate ways. For many years Dryden had wondered what happened to them and how their lives worked out. Answering that question became the focus of this book.
Using telephone interviews, Dryden reconnected with most of them during which they had long conversations and he collected their individual stories. He selected a number to present in detail, being careful to choose those who grew up in different circumstances and with different ambitions. He shares their stories against the background of the changing Canadian social and political landscape of the time, retracing their steps as they chose a career and decided whether to marry and have children. They took a number of different paths, choosing various careers as teachers, nurses, engineers and financiers and one who became an Olympic long-distance runner. He includes himself and his own story as part of the group, but is careful to position himself, as just one of them.
The context in which these student grew up and became adults critically affected their evolution. It was the time after the war years when the middle class was growing, when higher education was more available and more valued and the role of women in the family and the workplace was changing. He describes that evolving landscape with broad strokes, noting the postwar infrastructure projects building roads and highways, the attention paid to health care and the growth of the suburbs on the outskirts of large cities. It was a time when there were more opportunities available, when people were living longer lives, often far from where they grew up.
Dryden gives readers a remarkable number of detailed stories of his former classmates who are now in their later years, describing the various paths they took, and including their successes, disappointments and frustrations. He also includes portraits of some of their teachers, their different teaching styles and the impact they had on their students.
Although these students were specially selected for an accelerated class, one can also see from the experiences they described to Dryden, that they were also just ordinary teenagers who lived lives like many others of the time and faced similar challenges.
Dryden writes well and is a keen observer, clearly evident in the portraits he creates of his former classmates and teachers. He notes not just their personalities and achievements, but how they appeared and behaved. He includes small details such as their hairstyles, the clothes they wore, how they behaved in the classroom and whether they were funny or “shit disturbers” who sat at the back of the classroom. He even notes one teacher who always wore pearls and cashmere.
This is not just a book that asks “where are they now?”. Instead, it is a much more introspective look at how a group of young people navigated their life journey during a particular time in Canadian history, when much was happening inside the country and in the world at large. Dryden’s narrative makes those many connections and for readers who are baby boomers and grew up about the same time, they will easily recognize themselves on these pages.
I found it an interesting read.
Using telephone interviews, Dryden reconnected with most of them during which they had long conversations and he collected their individual stories. He selected a number to present in detail, being careful to choose those who grew up in different circumstances and with different ambitions. He shares their stories against the background of the changing Canadian social and political landscape of the time, retracing their steps as they chose a career and decided whether to marry and have children. They took a number of different paths, choosing various careers as teachers, nurses, engineers and financiers and one who became an Olympic long-distance runner. He includes himself and his own story as part of the group, but is careful to position himself, as just one of them.
The context in which these student grew up and became adults critically affected their evolution. It was the time after the war years when the middle class was growing, when higher education was more available and more valued and the role of women in the family and the workplace was changing. He describes that evolving landscape with broad strokes, noting the postwar infrastructure projects building roads and highways, the attention paid to health care and the growth of the suburbs on the outskirts of large cities. It was a time when there were more opportunities available, when people were living longer lives, often far from where they grew up.
Dryden gives readers a remarkable number of detailed stories of his former classmates who are now in their later years, describing the various paths they took, and including their successes, disappointments and frustrations. He also includes portraits of some of their teachers, their different teaching styles and the impact they had on their students.
Although these students were specially selected for an accelerated class, one can also see from the experiences they described to Dryden, that they were also just ordinary teenagers who lived lives like many others of the time and faced similar challenges.
Dryden writes well and is a keen observer, clearly evident in the portraits he creates of his former classmates and teachers. He notes not just their personalities and achievements, but how they appeared and behaved. He includes small details such as their hairstyles, the clothes they wore, how they behaved in the classroom and whether they were funny or “shit disturbers” who sat at the back of the classroom. He even notes one teacher who always wore pearls and cashmere.
This is not just a book that asks “where are they now?”. Instead, it is a much more introspective look at how a group of young people navigated their life journey during a particular time in Canadian history, when much was happening inside the country and in the world at large. Dryden’s narrative makes those many connections and for readers who are baby boomers and grew up about the same time, they will easily recognize themselves on these pages.
I found it an interesting read.
January 14, 2024
Ken Dryden is a class act: modest, smart, empathetic.
Many post-war Canadians just happen to be at that stage in life when the curiosity bug bites about old classmates: roads taken, potential realized (or not). Basically, the 'whatever happened to,' which is also our way of measuring how our own personal/professional lives stack up against the rest.
Almost always, the classmates we have in mind are from high school, especially when the group was small and tight-knit. More so if some or all of our high school experience was with the same group of kids, in the same class, year in and year out.
Dryden is an accomplished author. But really, how are his former classmates different and why should this interest me (or hold my interest) as a reader? True, theirs was the "brain class" at a suburban Toronto high school. But many in the 1946-64 boomer generation can lay claim to the same designation.
Are their stories after high school unique? Did they accomplish what they wanted? Were they happy and fulfilled at home and at work? Like everyone else in this world who gets to a certain age, it's a mixed bag.
Respectfully, I don't understand the point of this book. It could have been written by any number of people with similar experiences.
Far more compelling (to me) are the stories of kids who were not considered the most likely to succeed, who were never given much of a chance to amount to much, but who defied the odds and the naysayers and made something special of themselves.
Since posting this review, I've added something that only occurred to me on reflection: the story of Ken Dryden's father, Murray, is what I enjoyed most. His can-do, do right personality, solid work ethic, respectful relationship with customers, his requisite suit, tie and fedora... they all play a role in success, regardless of job or vocation or station in life.
Many post-war Canadians just happen to be at that stage in life when the curiosity bug bites about old classmates: roads taken, potential realized (or not). Basically, the 'whatever happened to,' which is also our way of measuring how our own personal/professional lives stack up against the rest.
Almost always, the classmates we have in mind are from high school, especially when the group was small and tight-knit. More so if some or all of our high school experience was with the same group of kids, in the same class, year in and year out.
Dryden is an accomplished author. But really, how are his former classmates different and why should this interest me (or hold my interest) as a reader? True, theirs was the "brain class" at a suburban Toronto high school. But many in the 1946-64 boomer generation can lay claim to the same designation.
Are their stories after high school unique? Did they accomplish what they wanted? Were they happy and fulfilled at home and at work? Like everyone else in this world who gets to a certain age, it's a mixed bag.
Respectfully, I don't understand the point of this book. It could have been written by any number of people with similar experiences.
Far more compelling (to me) are the stories of kids who were not considered the most likely to succeed, who were never given much of a chance to amount to much, but who defied the odds and the naysayers and made something special of themselves.
Since posting this review, I've added something that only occurred to me on reflection: the story of Ken Dryden's father, Murray, is what I enjoyed most. His can-do, do right personality, solid work ethic, respectful relationship with customers, his requisite suit, tie and fedora... they all play a role in success, regardless of job or vocation or station in life.
October 19, 2023
In 1960, Ken Dryden entered Etobicoke Collegiate Institute as part of a "selective" class of grade nines who had been hand picked/tested from the four elementary schools which acted as feeders to ECI. When the pandemic hit and he was approaching 75, he decided to find out what had happened to the 35 students who had been part of what was called the "brain class". As I had been part of a similar streamed experiment in Western Canada I was intrigued by his quest to discover what had happened over a lifetime to his classmates. In general, he succeeded very well with this providing chronological profiles of 28 people interspersed with his own recollections and self-questioning over 5 decades. He starts with the demographics of the parents and places them in the context of Canada from the time his classmates were born in 1946/47. Little by little he unfolds each story, providing relevant statistics that explain some of the choices and events that affected this select group.
While the narrative of this big book never flags, some sections work better than others. The stories of Ken's classmates largely focus on their "careers" sometimes in minute detail. Personal stories need some intimacy and this is largely lacking, although likely deliberately so. I don't know how you can regard the calling of hospital administrator as "magical" but it's implied here. But I guess you have to draw a line somewhere!
Also useful would have been then and now headshots, but there's only Ken the Cover Boy!
One of the more compelling sections is where Dryden spends time mulling over the impact of the Canadian Centennial in 1967. Fascinating to read especially in the context of his cohort of optimistic young Canadians. But the shiniest part of this book is when Dryden reaches his seventies and dives into whatever wisdom he's managed to collect and make sense of it all.
While the narrative of this big book never flags, some sections work better than others. The stories of Ken's classmates largely focus on their "careers" sometimes in minute detail. Personal stories need some intimacy and this is largely lacking, although likely deliberately so. I don't know how you can regard the calling of hospital administrator as "magical" but it's implied here. But I guess you have to draw a line somewhere!
Also useful would have been then and now headshots, but there's only Ken the Cover Boy!
One of the more compelling sections is where Dryden spends time mulling over the impact of the Canadian Centennial in 1967. Fascinating to read especially in the context of his cohort of optimistic young Canadians. But the shiniest part of this book is when Dryden reaches his seventies and dives into whatever wisdom he's managed to collect and make sense of it all.
April 8, 2025
Book Review: The Class by Ken Dryden
When I first received The Class as a Christmas gift, I admit I approached it with some reluctance. As someone with little interest in sports, and unsure about the appeal of a book centered around a group of Grade 9 classmates, I anticipated a tedious read. But what unfolded was nothing short of astonishing.
Ken Dryden proves himself not merely a former athlete but a writer of remarkable depth and insight. His prose is elegant, thoughtful, and deceptively simple. In tracing the lives of his classmates—and his own—over the course of decades, Dryden weaves a tapestry that is both intimate and universal. He captures the essence of ordinary lives in all their triumphs, missteps, and quiet heroics.
The Class is an invitation to reflect on the paths we choose, the ones we leave behind, and the unexpected directions life takes. It is a celebration of potential and perseverance, but also a meditation on impermanence. Dryden reminds us that life is fleeting, that success and failure are often not what they seem, and that the measure of a life lies more in the journey than in the outcome.
Of the many books I've read this year, The Class stands out—not for dramatic flair, but for its quiet brilliance and humanity. It is a book that lingers, urging us to consider our own lives with a bit more clarity and grace. I’m grateful I read it
When I first received The Class as a Christmas gift, I admit I approached it with some reluctance. As someone with little interest in sports, and unsure about the appeal of a book centered around a group of Grade 9 classmates, I anticipated a tedious read. But what unfolded was nothing short of astonishing.
Ken Dryden proves himself not merely a former athlete but a writer of remarkable depth and insight. His prose is elegant, thoughtful, and deceptively simple. In tracing the lives of his classmates—and his own—over the course of decades, Dryden weaves a tapestry that is both intimate and universal. He captures the essence of ordinary lives in all their triumphs, missteps, and quiet heroics.
The Class is an invitation to reflect on the paths we choose, the ones we leave behind, and the unexpected directions life takes. It is a celebration of potential and perseverance, but also a meditation on impermanence. Dryden reminds us that life is fleeting, that success and failure are often not what they seem, and that the measure of a life lies more in the journey than in the outcome.
Of the many books I've read this year, The Class stands out—not for dramatic flair, but for its quiet brilliance and humanity. It is a book that lingers, urging us to consider our own lives with a bit more clarity and grace. I’m grateful I read it
April 5, 2024
I have a checkered history with Ken Dryden. As a young Boston Bruins fan in 1971 I honestly hated him with a passion (hockey-related). That moved to dislike as his Habs won cup after cup in the 70's.
But having now read a couple of his books .. including this one...I have turned that hate into admiration. Really .... to pull this book together took hours and hours and hours of work. To do so in a comprehensive and thoughtful way, working within a pandemic-plagued world would have made the work even harder. But what he turned out was interesting and engaging (even it at times it got bogged down in unnecessary details). What a gift he ends up giving to the 35 members of his high school class (1060-65) and their families.
Well done Mr. Dryden (even if I do still cringe every time I see a photo of you leaning on your hockey stick standing in your crease, wearing a Canadiens' jersey)
But having now read a couple of his books .. including this one...I have turned that hate into admiration. Really .... to pull this book together took hours and hours and hours of work. To do so in a comprehensive and thoughtful way, working within a pandemic-plagued world would have made the work even harder. But what he turned out was interesting and engaging (even it at times it got bogged down in unnecessary details). What a gift he ends up giving to the 35 members of his high school class (1060-65) and their families.
Well done Mr. Dryden (even if I do still cringe every time I see a photo of you leaning on your hockey stick standing in your crease, wearing a Canadiens' jersey)
July 21, 2024
Grew up in 70s Montreal idolizing the player, based on what he did on the ice, as part of a generational team that made a young fan believe they were destined to win every year, until they didn't. Now, mid-50s, having read each of his books, and many of his op-ed pieces in newspapers/magazines, I am still in awe of the power and depth of his written words, each of which I can hear his voice calmly voicing them as each page turns into the next.
This book is a detailed yet general look back at our country, via his ECI classmates' lives, of the past 60+ years. It is a fun, sometimes exhilarating read that allows one to self-reflect as well onto our own lives as well as those we sat besides in the classrooms of our educational journey.
Hoping that one day I will get a chance to shake Ken's hand as his life has impacted mine from that first time I saw his mask on Saturday night.
This book is a detailed yet general look back at our country, via his ECI classmates' lives, of the past 60+ years. It is a fun, sometimes exhilarating read that allows one to self-reflect as well onto our own lives as well as those we sat besides in the classrooms of our educational journey.
Hoping that one day I will get a chance to shake Ken's hand as his life has impacted mine from that first time I saw his mask on Saturday night.
December 30, 2023
Others can provide a summary. For me, the stories of the ‘class’ were interesting. But more importantly Ken was able to draw on the context effectively. He described the family histories of the people in the class back to 1900’s when first grandparents settled in Canada, through the history of the parents in the depression and through WW2 onto the arrival of the people in the class. The people in the group got to high school in 1960. Again the context of the Canadian political setting, US/Canadian relations, parental aspirations played out as they did until the present time. A well researched context—a history of Canada, particularly S Ontario Canada—is described. An easy read.
January 2, 2025
Although parts can get exhausting with detail or tangents, Dryden tells an endearing and meaningful story of his class from the Etobicoke Collegiate Institute. In this book, Dryden recounts his classmates' as well as his own experience in Canada over the rapidly changing landscape of the second half the 20th century. The personal experience and accounts are complimented well with brief but encapsulating backgrounds of the socio-political landscape of Canada during the period.
June 25, 2025
Ken Dryden is my hockey hero, for his goal-tending, his contrarian career management and his writing. I had only read his hockey books, though. Really enjoyed this history, part autobiography, part social commentary. What an endeavor, to re-interview long lost comrades and create a tapestry of life stories. He is a wonderful noticer. Puckstopper and perspicuity penman!
January 26, 2024
An excellent read! Mr. Dryden used the Covid lockdown to interview former high school classmates during the pandemic to see how their lives turned out. Totally relateable if you were born in the 1950's.
February 1, 2024
This book was supposed to be very good and entertaining. I did not find this to be true for me. The pace was slow and sometimes you need to re-read sections in an attempt to understand what is being said.
January 11, 2024
An excellent examination of the lives of members of a gifted high school class from the early 1960s, from before they arrived in high school to their lives now.
January 18, 2024
Wow, I have nothing else to say this book was great I couldn't stop listening. Ken Dryden has a way of telling stories that just put you there. He's good at telling his story through other stories.
Read
January 26, 2024My interview with Dryden discussing the book is here:
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...
March 3, 2024
interesting commentary of times he and classmates have lived through.
April 9, 2024
Some may find this autobiography interesting. I didn't. Love #29s other books.
August 15, 2025
While I enjoyed parts of this book, or was really written for those who were born in the 1946-1949 years
September 28, 2024
Great book! Very well written and gives the reader a glimpse into how life was and is and maybe in the future for his classmates, himself and all of us. Highly recommend
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews