The legend of Ben Kerr lives on.
Kerr, the perennial mayoral candidate and late great performer from the corner of Yonge and Bloor, is having a laneway named after him in Toronto’s east end.
On Sunday May 25, at 1 pm, the City of Toronto and the Chatham West Residents’ Association will name a local laneway that runs parallel to Danforth and Chatham, east of Jones Avenue. Kerr lived on Jones Avenue for 25 years.
From 1985 onward, Kerr ran for mayor in Toronto, and even finished fourth in 1997. In the 1960s, Kerr was a regular performer of the folk clubs in Yorkville district — a former musical haven of Toronto — and according to Wikipedia, he worked “alongside groups such as Steppenwolf, the Mynah Birds, Rick James, Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell, and wrote songs for the then unknown Neil Young.”
Two original songs honouring Ben Kerr will be performed, one co-written by Juno-award winning singer, Melanie Doane. Zero Gravity Circus will also be performing.
photo by Kenneth Armstrong
3 comments
Cool. Ben made Toronto a more interesting place.
Ben leads off this 1982 video clip for the band Trees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ThhT-nWcE
I actually first read this headline as “Ben Kerr honoured with threeway” and the first thing I thought was “I hope one day the good people of this city see fit to commemorate me the same way”.
I’m not sure what this says about me, but I suspect it’s unprintable.
I saw Ben in a convenience store near his house… quite friendly and gave me a campaign button that I have kept til this day.