Entre Nous

There has been good news in the Friends of Fort York community recently. On June 7 Shawn Micallef, a newly-elected member of the Friends of Fort York Board of Directors, was named a 2011-12 Canadian Journalism Fellow at Massey College. Shawn was previously a four-year veteran of the Fort York Management Board. He’s the author of Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto (2010), an editor at Spacing Magazine, founder of the [murmur] mobile phone documentary project, and writes about cities, culture, buildings, art, and politics in books, magazines, newspapers, and websites.

Also, in early May our incoming co-chair Stephen Otto had conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Sacred Letters by his alma mater, Trinity College, for his long career in advancing heritage causes, especially at Fort York. He was a founder of The Friends of Fort York in 1994 in response to the development pressure being put on the fort’s site; the organization has persevered much longer than most such groups do. A frequent contributor to this newsletter, Stephen is able to draw from his encyclopedic knowledge of history gained while heading Ontario’s heritage programs from 1975-81, and subsequently as an independent consulting historian.

The quiet courtyard of Friends’ director Meg Graham was featured in a recent issue of Now Magazine. http://www.nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/story.cfm?content=181396. This serene space behind the office of superkül, the architectural firm where Meg is a partner, was the site of The Friends’ nominating committee meeting to formulate recommendations to the Annual General Meeting (see following article).