Shakespeare in Toronto

Was Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 written for a man? A woman? We think the subject would be obvious if he were writing in modern-day Toronto.

Brontës in Toronto

What would the Brontë sisters do in Toronto? (Besides leave Anne at home.) Dude-watch at a hockey game, of course.

Top 10 Historical Visits to Toronto

10. Etienne Brûlé, 1615-ish. The first person to explore all the Great Lakes! If you count only white European males as people.

9. John Graves Simcoe, 1793. He put Toronto on the map (albeit as York). Too bad the Americans found it and burned it in 1813.

8. Zebulon Pike, 1813. Part of said American forces. Fine, he visited as part of an attack on the city, but he also named a zillion-and-one things after himself. Unfortunately, they’re all called Pike instead of Zebulon.

7. The G20, 2010. Ahh, the memories. And the insurance claims, and secret laws, and ongoing legal battles.

6. Healey Willan, 1920–1968. Willan makes the list because one of his liturgical works includes the lyric “By Him the clouds drop fatness/The deserts bloom and spring.” I sang it in church choir every year at Thanksgiving and unfailingly dissolved into giggles at the idea of dieting clouds.