Lisa Pasold’s Literary Yorkville
Strolling the posh sidewalks of Yorkville, it’s hard to imagine that this quaint former village was a slightly derelict, bohemian drag as recently as 40 years ago. Best known for its 1960s and early ’70s coffee house scene, Yorkville was the launching pad for music talents like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Ronnie Hawkins and so many more.
But the area also has a rich literary history, which is what author and tour guide Lisa Pasold will be focusing on tomorrow afternoon (3 – 5 pm), as she leads local and international guests through the streets and laneways that gave rise to literary lights like Milton Acorn, Matt Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, bpNichol, Dennis Lee and others.
Pasold’s tour (email her for details, advance reservations are required), is part of a week-long “vacation for the soul” called Classical Pursuits organized by Ann Kirkland. Every summer in Toronto, more than 100 individuals from around the world retreat from the hurly-burly of daily life to engage in unhurried discussion and personal reflection about the world’s great literature, music, and art. Taking place all this week on the leafy campus of UofT’s Victoria College, Classical Pursuits features a variety of guest lecturers and tour guides; Kirkland likens the week to “slow food for the intellect.”
Yesterday, Pasold gave me a preview of her walk, which digs back into Yorkville’s 19th century history before fleshing out the literary side of things. We strolled past the sites of former coffee houses like the Riverboat, above, and the Mynah Bird, where authors rivaled the folkies with readings of seminal Canadian works.
Al Gilbert’s Life Behind the Lens
Al Gilbert probably won’t think much of my point-and-shoot portrait of him and his lovely wife Gail, who joined us for our interview Tuesday at the Market Gallery. Gilbert, 88, walked me through the show, a survey of images from his lifetime as one of Toronto’s most prominent portrait photographers.
After talking for more than an hour it was clear that Gilbert believes a portraitist’s skill lies in how he or she composes and lights a shot: “Photojournalism isn’t photography,” he says, a little dismissively, “you’re not setting up the shot, you’re just recording what you see.”
He might sound like a curmudgeon but Gilbert is anything but; he was gracious and funny as he walked me down memory lane, reliving the shoots that resulted in these images of Frank Sinatra, Golda Meir, Ed Mirvish, Oscar Peterson, John Deifenbaker, Robertson Davies, even world famous Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh.
“Was it intimidating shooting Karsh?” I ask.
“Not a bit,” says Gilbert. “When you’ve shot everybody from the Pope on down, what’s another photographer?”
“Al could teach Karsh about light,” says Gail proudly.
Heritage Walk Season Begins in Scarborough
The weather forecast for Saturday has improved considerably and Scott Woodland, for one, couldn’t be happier about it. A director of the Scarborough Historical Society, Woodland will leading the Thomson Pioneer Settlement walk May 1 beginning at 1:30 pm: it’s the first Heritage Toronto Walk of the season, one of dozens of free, real-time explorations of the city’s present and past.
A public school teacher and committed history buff, Woodland, above centre, is an expert on the early days of Scarborough and its founding family, the Thomsons. “David and Mary Thomson were the first European settlers to be given a land grant in the area [around 1798] although there had been native villages on the site going back about 800 years,” says Woodland.
Tale of a Town Tells Queen West Story
If the names Mary Margaret O’Hara, Razorbacks, Leslie Spit Treeo, Scary Mary, Gordie Johnson and Handsome Ned mean anything to you, then you’ll probably enjoy Tale of A Town. Opening Saturday night (May 1 – 16), the site-specific theatrical journey traces the transformation of Queen Street West from a bohemian, rock ‘n’ roll drag into an upscale strip of condos and chain stores.
Although it’s essentially a one-woman show led by actor Lisa Marie DiLiberto, above right, Tale of a Town has been a collaborative effort by the members of Fixt Point, an indie theatre group based in Parkdale. DiLiberto and musical director Treasa Levasseur set up shop at the soon-to-be defunct Cameron House where they interviewed local luminaries from years gone by, assembling the cultural history of this famous and infamous stretch of Toronto.
Storytelling Fest Brings Historic Sites to Life
The premise is simple and thoroughly compelling: during the summer of 1847, 38,000 poverty-stricken Irish immigrants passed through Toronto, then a city of 20,000. Responding to the tragedy, innkeeper Thomas Montgomery hosted a benefit to aid the refugees. Tomorrow night at 8 pm, storyteller Nan Brien, left, and historical music ensemble Gin Lane recreate that night 163 years later in the very same room at Montgomery’s Inn.
Titled No Irish Need Apply, Brien relates the stories of seven women ranging from an Irish tenant farmer’s wife, to a sea captain’s wife to a midwife and soothsayer. Some storytellers are very clear about a distinction between what they do and theatrical performance; not so for Brien who spent her career teaching high school drama, acting and directing amateur theatre.
“Because of my background, it’s easy for me to step into a different voice or mood,” says Brien. “I like being close to the audience and as a storyteller I feed somewhat off their reactions.” Brien has been telling stories in the historic Montgomery’s Inn for about 15 years and says the rustic rooms “are like a live stage setting.”
