Category: The Magazine

It is June 1975 and Sally Barnes is climbing the red-carpeted stairs to the press gallery at Queen’s Park, home of the Ontario Legislature, as she has done almost every day for the past five years. This day, however, isn’t like the others. Barnes has just made one of the most difficult decisions of her… Continue reading Why Did the Journalist Cross the Road?

FIRST PERIOD On Saturday April 15, 1995, Hockey Night in Canada host Ron Maclean invited Winnipeg Free Press sports columnist Scott Taylor to be his guest during the second intermission. That night, fans in Western Canada and Ontario watched as the Toronto Maple Leafs battled the Jets in Winnipeg. The score was 2 to 1… Continue reading Boosterism: 1 Journalism: 0

I have never seen Carl Jensen, but as I listen to him speak over the phone from his home in Cotati, California. I picture a joyous, reassuring grandfather, a buoyant Papa Smurf of a man. “You have to remain optimistic when you do what I’ve been doing for 20 years,” he tells me in his… Continue reading Missing the Boat

On this crisp autumn Sunday, Rona Maynard is right where I want her—in the kitchen. Her north Toronto house sits on the edge of a tree-gilled ravine, and the bright red, orange and yellow leaves beyond the sliding doors infuse warmth into the modern room. On the wall by the round, wooden kitchen table hangs… Continue reading Someone’s in the Kitchen with Rona

I am sitting on a dark green leather love seat while John Haslett Cuff towers above me, stretching out his arms and gripping a bottle of champagne in his right hand. “DOM PERIGNON, 1985! A HUNDRED-DOLLAR BOUQUET OF FLOWERS!!!” he yells, cradling his arms to hold the imaginary floral arrangement. “They were sent to me… Continue reading Sympathy for the Devil