Joe Fiorito has spent the morning working on a follow-up story about two bickering parking lot attendants in downtown Toronto. Since his first column about the lots, the feud has escalated and one of the attendants, an Ethiopian immigrant named Gashaw Mequanent, now has a broken wrist. It’s a typical Fiorito piece, a tiny urban… Continue reading A Cup of Joe and a Slice of Life
Le Maestro
Jean Paré once dreamed of being a conductor. From his podium, he would guide the orchestra through magnificent symphonies and transport the crowds with a touch of his baton. Sleek and proud in his black tux, he would uncover the mysteries of the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Unfortunately, Paré doesn’t have much of an… Continue reading Le Maestro
Grief Encounter
“I’ve turned into some sort of celebrity,” observed Justin Trudeau in a front-page story in the Saturday, February 3, 2001, edition of The Globe and Mail. “But I’m not,” he then pleaded. “I’m not.” Having arrived fairly recently at the pinnacle of Canadian not-celebrity-the Globe cover photo depicted the young man on a snowy crest… Continue reading Grief Encounter
A Question of Truth
In a darkened corner of the Scotia Lunch in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Wayne Butler leans across the table toward his friend, Floyd Hemeon. His naturally red face flushes even more as he moves in closer, stressing a point to Floyd, who sits back in the blue, plastic chair, takes off his baseball cap and scratches… Continue reading A Question of Truth
A Serious Makeover
A spring day in 1989 and the leggy, blonde, 21-year-old Leanne Delap, fresh out of journalism school, dressed in an all-black ensemble, is climbing up the stairs in a converted industrial space to begin her six-month internship at Toronto Life. It was an exciting time at the magazine, a publication that some accused of being… Continue reading A Serious Makeover
