Usually, an author stands into front of the crowd and reads from their book and then takes questions.

On this Saturday afternoon in a local bookstore, Fred Cusick was different. He sat in a chair, surrounded by his daughters and fans of the longtime Boston Bruin announcer.

This was way better than your usual signing.

Despite being surrounded by book displays and shoppers, this felt like Fred was indeed in our living room, just like he was for all those years when he would broadcast the trials and tribulations of the Bruins.

Cusick, who died Tuesday at age 90 at his Barnstable home, was talking about his 60 years in Boston sports, which he wrote about in his book, “Fred Cusick: Voice of the Bruins.”

That book reads like having Fred at your coffee table, telling tales of Boston, golf, the Bruins and local radio and TV.

This isn’t a “tell all book,” filled with juicy details, but rather a storytelling exercise from a one of the voices of New England’s collective sports past.

Fred was in his late 80s on that day, having a little trouble hearing the questions, but his daughters were there to lovingly repeat the ones asked.

He told stories about the old Bruins, especially the “Bobby Orr and the Big Bad Bruins” era, talked about being the announcer for the first New England Patriots and one of the loves of his life, golf.

Fred was also a local high school football announcer, doing the Brockton High games on WBET from the Brockton Fairgrounds.

At the time of book signing, he was still broadcasting high school hockey games on the Cape and marveling at the new technology of games on the Internet.

Every so often, a shopper would come by, hear the voice and sit down in one of the chairs.

“Can you give me a ‘Scooore?”

Of course, Fred would break into play-by-play mode and deliver his trademark call.

As someone who dabs at little bit in play-by-play, Fred was a good guy to listen to. In the simplest of technological terms, he was brilliant at developing a flow to the game and then picking up the pace when warranted.

In non-technological terms, he sounded like a guy who you would want for your neighbor and would like to share a cup of coffee with at the local shop.

That was the key to Fred Cusick’s success. He was a talent, of course, but most importantly, someone we wanted to have in our living rooms.

That was what it was like on that Saturday afternoon in the bookstore.

Fred Cusick talking hockey in your house.

For years, it didn’t get any better than that.