-
Parker’s Toronto: Drawing Henry Moore, Beth Parker No. 9
•
I was eleven years old when my parents loaded me, my grandmother and aunt into our ‘65 Buick and drove downtown from Toronto’s west end to see “that sculpture.” Henry Moore’s The Archer had just been installed in front of the new Toronto City Hall. It was 1966. Within a day of the ceremony, one…
-
Parker’s Toronto, Hot fashion and hot tamales, Beth Parker no. 8
•
An impromptu search for the perfect dress to wear to my book launch turned out to be an advertisement for Toronto as the best “livable” cities. Like a well-seasoned New Yorker, we found our treasures in out-of-the-way corners not likely found on a tourist map. Ryerson Public School First stop to pick up my…
-
Parker’s Toronto, Leaside at 100, Still the Small Town, no. 8
•
This year’s 100th anniversary celebration for the Town of Leaside (actually, no longer a town but part of the City of Toronto) is a reminder of how new Toronto is, as a city. I know people who are almost 100 years of age—it means that many original Leasiders are still around to tell us…
-
Parker’s Toronto, Training musicians at the RCM, one exam at a time, no. 7
•
I still get goose bumps entering the building, my heart races when I hear music escaping from the walls as if it’s my turn again to wait for an examiner outside one of its tall doors. The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) on Bloor Street may look like a refurbished building on the inside…
-
Parker’s Toronto, Garage sale fever in Leaside, no. 6
•
At first, it felt like a lazy, early June Saturday morning but then I hear the clatter of card tables and voices. No sleeping in this morning—it’s garage sale day—a common phenomenon on the streets of Toronto in the summer months. You’d expect it in a small town, but garage sale fever is alive…
-
Parker’s Toronto, High Tea at King Eddy, no. 2
•
This Sunday was an alumnae gathering of university friends—“High Tea” offered each week at the King Edward (Meridian) Hotel on King Street. The King Edward has always been one of my favourites because of its rare (for Toronto) Edwardian architecture. Most of our older buildings are Victorian, that is, overly ornate and rather scary-looking…