Recollections of a Neighbourhood:Huron-Sussex from UTS to Stop Spadina

In this engaging geographical memoir of a historic central Toronto neighborhood, editors Nancy Williams and Marie Scott-Baron present residents' recollections of the special moments of daily life and of their collective resistance in the face of potential destruction. This lavishly illustrated and lively volume begins with semi-feudal land grants in the 1790s, shows us the creation of a new suburb in the same Victorian era as the beautiful University College and Parliament Building next door, and culminates with the sudden and dramatic death of the would-be Spadina Expressway. Part history and part memoir, Recollections of a Neighbourhood gives the reader a sense of what and who have made Huron-Sussex so special. Contributors show us themselves and their neighbours--academics, activists, artists, filmmakers, parents, shopkeepers, writers--working together to build and preserve a district and a city of which they, and we, could be proud. Scores of photographs, many by designer Anne Vellone, and maps by Mariange Beaudry richly complement six decades of reminiscences from UTS to Stop Spadina. Recollections reveals, with insights and humour, the history and texture of life in a lively, close-knit, somewhat bohemian Victorian-era neighbourhood in the heart of a vast metropolis.