news Goodbye, and Thank You

When I left grad school, halfway through a PhD I’ll probably never finish, I didn’t have any idea I’d wind up as a journalist. Back in Toronto after five years away, all I knew was that I still wanted to write, and that living elsewhere had made me freshly aware of this city: of how it felt, viscerally, to walk down its streets, of tiny details I’d never much noticed, because I hadn’t spent long enough anywhere else. So I sent an email, asking if maybe I could start contributing to Torontoist—not with the expectation it would go anywhere in particular, but just because it seemed like a good place to explore these things. I’m so glad the answer was yes.

It’s now six years later. One unexpected turn (“The site is shutting down!“) led to another (“No, we’re getting saved!“) led to another (“Hey, want to start editing a bit?”), and for the last four years it has been my privilege and pleasure to serve as Torontoist‘s editor-in-chief. Next week, another unexpected turn: I start at the Globe and Mail, where I’m going to spearhead its weekend Focus section.

Yesterday was my last day as editor here, and I have no words—an odd feeling for a writer—to convey just how much I will miss it.

Torontoist is born out of the conviction that this is a great city—one with the potential to be even greater; we try to celebrate the former and speak frankly about the latter. It is created by people who have such love for and knowledge of Toronto; it is a community that existed long before I came along, and that will continue long after I leave. I’ll still be reading every day, and I hope you will, too.

My thanks go to all of you: for reading, for challenging us to do better, for pointing out mistakes when we make them, for sending us notes when we write about an artist you love or a historical figure who just happened to be your great-grandfather. None of this would be possible without you.

Hamutal Dotan

Editor-in-Chief

January 2011–October 2014