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His book, released this month, comes packed with such stories, moments from Toronto’s odd history that prove the city was weird long before Rob Ford was elected. Mr. Levine, in fact, does not even consider Mr. Ford’s tenure to have been all that noteworthy, for all the worldwide media attention it garnered. “One hundred years from now, if somebody writes another biography of Toronto, Rob Ford will get a page, if that,” he said.

Mr. Levine should know. He once wrote a book about Canada’s most unforgettable mayors. And in the biography of Toronto, his 11th book and eighth work of non-fiction, there are plenty of other, equally colourful chief magistrates. Consider this partial list: George Gurnett, mayor for two years in the 1830s, had a foe tarred and feathered; Sam McBride, an early 20th-century mayor, throttled an alderman. Allan Lamport kept a private suite at the Royal York Hotel. He billed the city for all the food and booze. Mel Lastman was Mel Lastman.

Mr. Levine has a PhD in history from the University of Toronto. But he spent his career teaching and writing in Winnipeg. He recently retired from a local private school, although he has no plans to stop writing.

Asked what surprised him most in his research, he cited Toronto’s long history of religious and ethnic strife. The vast majority of Toronto’s early riots were sectarian, he said, and racism and xenophobia were all but official city policy well into the 20th century. “The discrimination and prejudice was blatant and visible,” he said.

His own favourite Toronto memory comes from his grad school days. In 1979, he was working part-time tending bar at Delaney’s on Church Street. One night, the entire roster of the Toronto Maple Leafs team walked in. To this day, he can remember what each of them drank. Darryl Sittler had a rum and coke, he said. Borje Salming had a Cinzano on the rocks. Lanny Macdonald drank a screwdriver. “They left me a $75 tip,” Mr. Levine said, “which, to a grad student, was a lot of money in those days.”

National Post

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