Hour Books: When All You Have is Hope

I’m an avid reader. Give me something to read and there’s a good chance I’ll read at least the first chapter, paragraph or sentence. There are few books that I’ve started and couldn’t finish. When All You Have Is Hope is Frank O’Dea’s saga of stumbling down a dark, dangerous path as a young adult and then picking himself and making a success of himself. The jacket art for this book includes a quote:

‘That was me, the guy begging money for a bottle of wine and a fifty-cent bed in a flophouse. I was thirty years away from being named an Officer of the Order of Canada, twenty years away from marriage and fatherhood, ten years away from earning my first million dollars, and a week away from deciding that I must change or die.”

Having watched the interview on The Hour, I knew that O’Dea’s story was intense, but I wasn’t totally prepared for just how dark parts of his story really was. The cliche term “rags to riches” is not so cliche in this story; O’Dea really went from wearing rags and living on the street to the life of the elite.

But there’s more to this story than just his redemption and survival. He also demonstrates that if you have a good idea and drive, you can make almost anything a success. He’s not just the co-founder of coffee giant Second Cup; he’s also the founder of Proshred, he helped structure the current code of conduct for Canada’s Olympic Athletes and Coaches, he co-founded Street Kinds International, a foundation aimed at bettering the lives of kids on the street around the world, he founded the international fundraiser “The Night of the Thousand Dinners” to help raise money to clear landmines... and the accolades and achievements go on and on.

I know I recommend every book I write about in this weekly post, but I put this book at the top of my “books everyone needs to read” list. It's an amazing read.

Make sure you check out Frank O’Dea’s October 2007 interview with George on The Hour.

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Our favourite clips...Frank O'Dea

It's not very often that you hear about true rags to riches tales. And then, every once in a while, we hear about people like Frank O'Dea.

O'Dea's early story is truly horrific, one that you would not expect to have a happy outcome. The victim of multiple sexual assaults in his childhood, by the time O'Dea was in his twenties he was living a drunken life on the streets of Toronto. At 23, he was given the courage to fight his demons, overcome the obstacles facing the homeless and rejoin mainstream society in the pursuit of making something of his life.

And his desire to be something more than what he was has paid off. Many, many times over. In 1975, O'Dea opened up a little coffee shop with a business partner in the Scarborough Town Centre. They called it Second Cup, which is now the largest chain of gourmet coffee stores in Canada.

And he didn't stop there.

Building on the success of Second Cup, O'Dea went on to found Proshred Security, a now global document shredding business.

In 1985, he co-founded Street Kids International, an organization charged with helping homeless children around the world, particularly in third world countries.

He was the founding chair of War Child Canada, the organization providing humanitarian relief to children in war zones around the world.

He co-founded Canadian Landmine Foundation in 1999, whose aim is to raise funds and awareness about the suffering caused by anti-personnel landmines. O'Dea was a key force in the creation of the Night of a Thousand Dinners fundraising initiative that is now held in over 50 countries around the world.

In 2003, Frank O'Dea was made an Officer of Canada.

Last year, Frank O'Dea released his biography titled: "When All You Have Is Hope".

In 2007, O'Dea joined George in The Hour studios to discuss his life and the book. I remember when I first watched the interview, I went through an array of emotions: horror, sadness, awe and finally, my own version of hope.

Frank O'Dea on The Hour

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