Imagine my surprise when I walked into Perfect Books and found a present waiting for me. It was a book on figure skater and artist Toller Cranston. It was accompanied by this beautiful letter written by his sister, Phillipa Cranston Baran.
Dear Charlie,
If you feel a tiny bit of a drag sometimes, please don’t worry. It’s just me and a bunch of other resisters hanging onto your coattails and feeling like, “Fuck, yeah! Finally someone sees what we see, knows what we know, and the capacity to express it with clarity and power.”
I am sending you this book that I wrote about my brother Toller Cranston. He too was a resister. Back in the day, he pushed against the stodgy figure skating establishment and introduced artistry and creativity that changed the sport forever.
Early on, the fans understood and embraced what he was doing, and the judging establishment eventually came around.
Toller Cranston changed figure skating. But more than that, much more than that, he inspired people. When he died of a fatal heart attack at his home in Mexico in 2015, the messages that flooded in from all over the world weren’t about unfair judging or his Olympic medal, or his 20,000 paintings.
People were saying, “He made me brave.” “He made me dream big.” “He inspired me to have the courage to be who I am.”
It is that legacy, now ten years after my brother passed away, that I am committed to preserving. I have established Toller International www.tollerinternational.com and am working to take the messages and values Toller stood for to a new generation of Canadians who don’t know, or have forgotten, that Canada has always had independent, creative trailblazers — artists, athletes, and performers.
Many of them are in this book. For example, Toller did an album cover for Joni Mitchell, appeared in Leonard Cohen’s film I Am a Hotel and worked on Stars on Ice with Alex Trebek.
I believe that the values he stood for courage, creativity, authenticity, and hard work are values shared by most Canadians.
As you share in your daily newsletters, it is inspirational stories and the reality of who we are as Canadians, what we believe, and what we will stand up for that will get us through. You are leading the way in challenging Canadians to dream big, pursue our destiny, be who we are, and to stand the fuck up. And we are. And we are grateful.
I will never again spend a cent in the US. I campaigned for candidate Bruce Fanjoy and am proud to live in the riding that booted Mr. Poilievre a few months ago. I am relentlessly buying Canadian, wearing my Elbows Up button, and making efforts to stay informed (which is hard in the daily torrent of shit).
I have developed a frosty stink-face that speaks volumes to friends who still muse about whether or not they will go to Florida this year. WTF? I have discovered that silence is more effective than shrieking. They know where I stand.
Thank you for your resistance, your courage, and your unwavering voice in the face of so much that needs challenging. Your work continues to inspire those of us who believe that integrity and truth still matter in public life. Thank you for the joy, humour and affection that you infuse into everything that you are doing.
With respect and gratitude,
Phillippa Cranston Baran
Sometimes it feels as if we are living in a world that is increasingly chaotic, frightening, and alienating. But everywhere there are lights appearing in the darkness. That is what gives me the strength to continue the work of resistance.
I wanted to share this letter with you because it speaks to the broader community we are all part of — a community that believes in hope, art, and people who build rather than tear down.
Thank you, Phillippa. Thank you, fellow resisters.
Keep kicking at the darkness — it will bleed daylight.
I graduated from high school when I was 34. A few months later, principal of an elementary school called to ask if I would like to be a teacher's aide-nurse for a boy who had been institutionalized his entire life. I could begin in September.
I agreed. I met Danny when school commenced in September. He was angry, and although he was 11 years old, his vocabulary tested at less than 5 years.
The following September, Danny's vocabulary tested at 21 years and I had become the volunteer art teacher and language arts teacher for three other boys.
I would take the 4 boys to the paper storage room (no fluorescent lighting) where the other boys would read stories.
I would ask comprehension questions. Danny could not read or write. I would write his answers for him; he almost always correctly answered. The boys who could read considered Danny to be a genius! And, Danny thought those who could read were geniuses.
It was very touching to see the group become fast friends. The able bodied boys began pushing Danny out onto the sports field and when Danny got a motorized wheelchair the boys began walking to school with him when the weather was mild and dry.
I placed many copies of Toller Cranston's artworks around the school room to inspire grade six discussions about creativity and the permission to express themselves in unique artistic methods.
I always gave the classroom 5 choices--students could choose whichever one they wanted to work on.
I think Toller Cranston's artwork and knowledge about medieval guilds were the reasons why boys were the ones who chose to embroider the monograms they had drawn and then sew them on their jackets.
Charlie, I want to thank you for today's post. I fully appreciate your stories and the inclusion of other Canadians.
I have to go to Florida next year for my granddaughter’s wedding. I have 2 sons and 5 grandchildren in the U S and it breaks my heart that I can’t visit them. Now I even have to pay duty on gifts I send them…I only buy in Canada, and no more bank drafts. I’ll be protesting tomorrow here at the U.S. embassy, a.k.a. ruzzia west.