Editor-in-Chief
David Topping |
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David Topping has lived his whole entire life in Toronto, and during his time here he's cultivated a whole slew of emotions for everything about and of his city. He loves things; he hates other things; he is ambivalent about other things. Though his favourite band is from Austin, his favourite movie is from Hollywood, and nearly all of his possessions are from Asia, David remains a proud Torontonian through and through. Though he's not particularly concerned with his mortality (yet!), he knows that he will almost certainly die here, too—which sounds pretty okay to him. |
Assistant Editor
Marc Lostracco |
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Marc is a former country boy, uprooted from Freelton, Ontario and transplanted to Toronto, which he pronounces with the proper alveolar flap ("Tronno"). When not making a living doing film and design stuff, he futzes around with photography like an arts-community cliché. A proud Canadian and 416er, Marc recently won a National Post contest to redesign Toronto's flag, which undoubtedly the City will ignore. He holds high hopes for his beloved city, and observes our urban politics with a combination of reverie and horror. |
City Editor
Val Dodge |
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Val is a lifelong east ender who has believed since the age of ten that the west end begins at Yonge St. He started talking to strangers at the same age and discovered that it was the best way to learn about Toronto. Val's habit of wandering aimlessly throughout the city allows him to spend a lot of time looking up at his surroundings, to the constant annoyance of the people he bumps into and curbs he trips over. The most important lesson he's learned in life is that it doesn't hurt to ask. |
Film Editor
Mathew Kumar |
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Mathew Kumar wasn't born and raised in Toronto…he wasn't even born and raised in Canada. Which means he's probably going to get kicked out of the country at some point, or something. So why on earth should you trust this perhaps-illegal immigrant with your favorite Toronto blog's weekly film news? Well, because unlike all the others, he didn't come to Toronto to steal your job, instead choosing to spend his time sitting around his apartment in his bathrobe, freelancing for publications such as Eurogamer, Twitch Film, and Plan B magazine. |
Style & Substance Editor
Sarah Nicole Prickett |
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Sarah Nicole Prickett (middle name optional) has survived evangelical Christianity, emocore, the University of Western Ontario, a blonde phase, and two decades of not living in Toronto. She goes to Ryerson for journalism and loves it. Sometimes she even goes to class. Mostly, though, she spends her days looking for things: lost keys, vintage bargains, a new brunch spot, the perfect turn of phrase, emotionally damaged and unavailable men. Sarah (Nicole) lives in a West Queen West shoebox with her kitten, Franny, and her electric typewriter. One day she will be famous for writing an entire novel without a single exclamation point, partly because enthusiasm is so whatever, but mostly because said typewriter doesn't have the exclamation point key. |
Photography Editor
Miles Storey |
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Miles is a professional web developer—or "designer" if he's in hip company. A Brit by birth, Miles grew up on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean and thus doesn't get any TV references from the 70s. With the tropics in his blood Miles has never been one for settling down. He is a seasoned traveller who has lived in various parts of the world in the last thirty-something years before finding a relative stability in Toronto. As well as photography Miles also enjoys books, films and the music of Tom Waits. Miles' favourite thing about Toronto is the streetcars, I mean, it's like a train but on the street, how frickin' cool is that? |
Environment Editor
Chris Tindal |
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Chris Tindal makes websites for a living. In his time off, he likes to unwind and forget about work by contributing to more websites. He's the Laura Hall of Toronto improv, having performed music at Catch 23, Bad Dog, and Monkey Toast. He also plays guitar and sings, and will sing for you if you ask nicely. Chris is incapable of consuming beer without nachos. In 2006, he was the Green Party of Canada's candidate in Toronto Centre, where he totally would have won if not for the three dudes who got more votes than him. His hobbies include writing biographies of himself in the third person, and maintaining an awesome blog at christindal.ca. |
Arts and Culture Editor
Karen Whaley |
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Hailing from exotic downtown Whitby, Karen Whaley is a University of Toronto graduate who secretly likes to invent plot lines for teen adventure fiction. As a seasoned traveler, she is painfully enthusiastic about things like curry and antique textiles and such. Interests include writing, comic books, trendy indie rock, kittens, and coriander. She has a weakness for good gin martinis. |
Vandalist
Posterchild |
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Posterchild is a Street Artist, Now living in Toronto. He creates public installations (or "Street Art" pieces) that are both playful and political in order to engage with his environment and those who share it with him. You can see his work at Blade Diary.com. |
Copy Editor
Eleni Deacon |
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As copy editor, Eleni doesn’t do any writing on Torontoist. And despite an increasingly visceral connection with this city, she is not a Toronto native. She scatters her time between various editing and communications gigs, but still hasn’t quite finished a degree in English from the University of Toronto. She can’t carry a tune, usually loses at Scrabble, often misplaces her keys, and has never shown significant promise at team sports. Her inability to write an informative bio embarrasses her. But she’s pretty confident about where to stick a semicolon. |
Staff
Roxanne Bielskis |
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Roxanne grew up in Jane-Finch, which is really all she's got for street cred. She writes and draws Povertyville for Torontoist, Poverty High for Shameless Magazine, and occasionally puts together whole books of her comics that she calls...Poverty. In her real life, she teaches high school. I know, weird, eh? Other things that ruin her street cred: she cries whenever she sees a cute baby and always says "please" and "thank-you" to her cat. |
Christopher Bird |
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The Explosively Talented Christopher Bird (or the ETCB to his family and friends) has worked in no particular order as a filmmaker, waiter, administrative assistant, script doctor, freelance writer, freelance character assassin, web monkey, teaching assistant and hobo who dances for quarters. He is now a student at Osgoode Hall Law School, so Shakespeare wants you to kill him first. Everything he writes that The Man won't allow you to read on Torontoist can be found at mightygodking.com. |
Kasandra Bracken |
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Some summers ago, Kasandra left a big house in the world's largest hamlet and relocated to an apartment one block away from the busiest pedestrian square in Canada. She made the move for the best journalism program in the nation, yet was wary of the scary city, petrified of nearly three million potential pickpockets. Thus far unscathed (no jinx intended), Kasandra has come to terms with her clichéd "falling in love with the city", and when she's not writing (about the aformentioned city), she likes taking part in the art of Lomography, working towards her master's in Wikipedia, and listening to as much Beach Boys as possible. |
Kevin Bracken |
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Kevin Bracken was born on Long Island, New York and moved to Toronto shortly after learning about its existence in 2004. He currently studies political science and urban sociology at the University of Toronto, mainly as a cover for his lifestyle of excess. Urbanist, railfan, web designer and dance music enthusiast, Kevin just can't get enough Toronto. In 2005, he co-founded Newmindspace, which he considers his young life's greatest work. He currently spends his free time (and class time) planning subway parties, pillow fights and giant games of capture the flag. |
Jamie Bradburn |
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Jamie Bradburn was born in the deep southwest of Ontario, moving to Toronto just before the turn of the century (though he forgets if it was 1899 or 1999). He figures exploring the city and its past is a way to know his surroundings better and justify his history minor in university. He has also discovered his camera has fused itself to his hand, which is great for snapping pictures but lousy for most physical tasks. Online, you'll find Jamie hanging out at JB's Warehouse and Curio Emporium and his Flickr. |
Ashley Carter |
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Ashley is a film school dropout turned journalism grad with fine words in fine places like Exclaim! magazine, TO411, and the bathroom wall at your parents' house. Sometimes she rips your ticket at the not-for-profit Revue Cinema and one time she defeated Bowser and saved the Princess. You don't know her, but she knows you. And she's not overly impressed. Jokes! She actually thinks you are pretty alright. That's the dichotomy of Ashley Carter: initial skepticism followed by warm tolerance. |
David Fleischer |
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If you google "David Fleischer" you should know that: first, he is not a Brazilian economics expert; and second, he does not write for The Advocate (not that there's anything wrong
with that!). A native North Yorker, he has written for the National Post and Post City Magazines (no relation) and is a co-founding editor of Afterword, Canada's national Jewish student newspaper. Really. David writes stories no one has published and once wrote songs and played guitar in a band called Urban Cactus. It featured several people who are now sufficiently successful that it would be pathetic to so much as drop their names. |
Stacey May Fowles |
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Stacey May Fowles is one of the few remaining people in Toronto without a Facebook account. She's a semi-reclusive fiction writer and lit-geek who grew up in Scarborough and no longer attempts to hide it. She’s written a book and contributed to a few others, publishes a feminist magazine for teenage girls, enjoys television shows about cylon invasions and crime scene investigation, and loves Earl Grey tea, agreeing with a barista at the Queen and John Second Cup when he called it "the Cadillac of the tea community.” When she’s not having lengthy conversations with her dog, she’s trolling eBay for shoes from the fifties, obsessively self-Googling, or finishing up an illustrated novel about a neurotic urban lonely-heart. You can stalk her at www.staceymayfowles.com. |
Jonathan Goldsbie |
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Jonathan was born in Toronto. So were both of his parents and all four of his grandparents, which is very unusual for someone who is not Protestant or even Christian at all (he's Jewish). His passion for all things Toronto—something which drives his younger brother crazy—manifests itself in the fact that his entire life is dedicated to organizations with "Toronto" in their names: he is a campaign coordinator with the Toronto Public Space Committee; a student at the University of Toronto; a daily rider of the Toronto Transit Commission; a flâneur with the Toronto Psychogeography Society; and now he also writes for Torontoist. |
Stephen Johns |
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Stephen Johns is a proud Northwestern Ontarian who nonetheless spent his childhood wishing he could live in Toronto. It took him twenty-four years (not to mention a five-year layover at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario) before his wish finally came true; three years later and he's now an erstwhile Torontonian who's scratching together a meager existence in Calgary, Alberta while plotting his eventual return. Steve cares far too much about the fortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Vikings and Manchester United for his own good; the rest of his life is generally devoted to reading, going to musical theatre and worshipping at the altars of the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam. He's currently trying to figure out to incorporate his myriad interests into a lucrative career with minimal hours. |
Sarah Lazarovic |
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Sarah Lazarovic is an illustrator, filmmaker and writer. Her work lives at www.SarahL.com. She would love to paint your portrait. |
Tony Makepeace |
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Tony Makepeace (panoramaist) was born in Montreal and experiments with photographic processes, from 19th century to current. He is currently on the faculty of the Visual and Creative Arts program at Sheridan Institute. Feel free to contact him with your questions regarding optics, chromatic aberration, and toning formulas. He will also take questions of a general nature. |
Kevin McBride |
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Kevin moved to Toronto in 1995 to study at the Ontario College of Art and Design, where he won awards for his work in painting and printmaking. After graduating OCAD, Kevin worked in film production and post-production for several years. In 2006 he left the film industry to focus on working as an artist and illustrator. When not slaving away in his garret, you may find Kevin riding his bike, collecting vinyl records or enjoying a cold beer. |
Patrick Metzger |
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Patrick has lived in Toronto most of the time since 1985, except for some stints in foreign cities where it’s too hot or always rains too much. He used to be a successful businessperson, but decided he wanted to be a creative type, without really understanding the financial implications of that decision. Nowadays he can be found begging people to read his screenplays and working for “the man” to pay the bills. You’d probably like him if you just took the time to get to know him. |
Maneesh Mohindra |
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Maneesh Mohindra was the Grade 2 spelling bee champion of his elementary school. (He was eliminated in the first round of the following year's competition.) He paid for school by spending summers counting other people's money in the dank basement of a bank in the financial district. He hasn't used his turntables in quite a while, but he still thinks he could rock a party if he had to. His only other job these days is to do the dishes but, come on, can't he just do them later? He has an awesome dog. |
Rosemary Mosco |
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Rosemary Mosco makes nature comics, stories and videogame art, which can be found at www.birdandmoon.com. She also delivers the international news on CIUT 89.5 fm's environmental news hour The Green Majority. She sells things at comic book conventions and divides her spare time between videogames and birding. She loves feedback and invitations to swish parties that have good hors-d'oevres. |
Kevin Plummer |
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Kevin Plummer grew up in Saskatchewan then bumped around Canada with stints living on the west coast and the east coast, before finally arriving here in the middle. Now, whenever he needs escape from the clichéd existence of a cubicle worker, he stumbles out to wander the city he loves. He’s got a very diverse set of interests from urban affairs and history to classic film noir to obscure soul music, and finding new ways to procrastinate. |
Julie Reitsma |
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An émigré from Mississauga to West Queen West via a brief stint in Melbourne, Julie is a longtime teller of tales who likes to liven up her hours as a technical bean-counter by drinking large quantities of tea, making up words for the duotang of lies and dreaming up which foodables to next pit against each other. To date, Julie has decided that she enjoys a variety of cheeses, a cold glass of wine, pockets where pockets normally wouldn’t be, pointing out the misuse of apostrophes while shaking her head, and spending time with her canine-accomplice, Moxie. |
Robin Rix |
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Born and raised in Toronto (thanks, Mom and Dad!), Robin now lives in London, England. A graduate of the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford, he now works as a lawyer in the field of carbon emissions trading and other stuff relating to the Kyoto Protocol that he tries to understand. He also volunteers at a legal aid clinic and is involved with some pro bono activities. Longstanding interests include politics, travel, and the Beatles (so contact him if you are also interested in making a pilgrimage to Liverpool). Newer interests include urban affairs, vintage anything, and maps. Robin has contributed a chapter to Notes from Canada's Young Activists: A Generation Stands Up for Change, wrote Canada25's annual policy report, Canadians & the Common Good: Building a Civic Nation through Civic Engagement, and is a previous national winner of Magna's annual "As Prime Minister..." essay competition. |
Cate Simpson |
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Cate is a recent import to Toronto from Edinburgh, which means she is alternately really really enthused about absolutely everything, and entirely bewildered by it all. She works as a freelance journalist, which means she spends her days calling up strangers and asking them probing questions about their lives. Her favourite things about Toronto so far include streetcars, her back yard, and the preponderance of peanut butter flavoured snack foods. |
Torontoist vs. Torontoist |
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Torontoist vs. Torontoist cannot agree on a profile, or anything else. One is an optimist, the other a pessimist. One is liberal, the other conservative. One likes cats, the other dogs. One's a little bit country, the other's a little a bit rock n' roll. On and on it goes: chocolate/vanilla, Star Wars/Star Trek, original recipe/extra crispy, yin/yang, matter/anti-matter, G.I. Joe/Cobra Command. Sometime it's hard to tell if they really are diametrically opposed on every issue, or whether one of them just insists on playing Devil's Advocate. Then again, maybe they're just a couple of jerks who can't get along. One thing that's certain though, is that any time there's an issue that's important to our city, TvT will find a way to disagree about it. |
Johnnie Walker |
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Johnnie Walker is not a pseudonym. Born at Mount Sinai Hospital, Johnnie has spent his whole life in Toronto and currently lives in Little Italy. A recent University of Toronto graduate, he spends his non-blogging life going to concerts, making pancakes and dancing better than you. He is also an actor and a playwright and he even founded a theatre company. Neat! Although his life may seem haphazard and even happenstance, it is actually directed by a brilliant and inscrutable plan that will one day lead him to his goal of being declared an International Darling. Also, he thinks he would make a pretty good late night talk show host. |
Jaime Woo |
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Jaime Woo has often based his career aspirations on his favourite television shows. There was a brief period that he wanted to be a lawyer because of Law and Order, then he wanted to work as a CSI due to the show of the same name. Previous to that, he had been fully committed to work as a vampire slayer. Currently, he juggles being a writer, a public relations practitioner, and a cynic. He has not yet figured out how to become a Pollyanna-esque WASP. Although born and raised in Toronto, when drunk, his accent morphs into one native to the Isle of Man. |
Torontoist Alumni
| Former Editors | Former Contributors | ||
| Joshua Errett November 2004–February 2006 Sarah Lazarovic October 2004–November 2005 Alison Broverman September 2005–April 2006 Ron Nurwisah February–December 2006 |
Natalie Atkinson Bad Buildings Ian Bailey Valerie Belair-Gagnon Carly Beath Dan Bergeron, Fauxreel Amanda Buckiewicz Vanessa Caldwell Gary Campbell Cordelia Coyle Julia De Laurentiis-Johnson Paige Dzenis Adrian Ercolani Simon Fodden Brian Gilham Bianca Gutnik, Misshoax Sharon Harris |
Stephanie Hart Ted Healey Ken Hunt Shari Kasman Mathew Katz Melanie Kimmett Dory Kornfeld Soloman Lam Sean Lerner Prathna Lor Cal MacLean Beth Maher Danu Mandlsohn Mark Medley Jill Murray Carrie Musgrave J. Kelly Nestruck Rebecca Pardo |
Robert L. Powell Rhonda Riche Kate Robertson Jenelle Rupchand Alexandra Samur Rob Shostak |