{"id":62497,"date":"2020-08-24T08:30:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T12:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=62497"},"modified":"2023-11-23T08:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T13:34:01","slug":"remembering-doug-taylor-a-historian-of-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/24\/remembering-doug-taylor-a-historian-of-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"REID: Remembering Doug Taylor, a historian of Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n

Doug Taylor, one of Toronto\u2019s local historians, died recently<\/a> at the age of 82. I got to know Doug because we were both among the inaugural inhabitants of a new mid-rise residential building in the formerly industrial King-Spadina area in the early 2000s. Doug and his partner Ivan were natural organizers and warm, enthusiastic hosts, and contributed to quickly forming a sense of community in the building \u2013 something many such buildings miss.<\/p>\n

I soon learned about Doug\u2019s knowledge of and enthusiasm for Toronto\u2019s history. A few years later, Doug agreed to be my co-host on a Jane\u2019s Walk, a tour of the past and burgeoning present of our new neighbourhood, which we residents dubbed the \u201cGarment District\u201d (the street signs call it the \u201cFashion District\u201d but we felt that masked its industrial, sweatshop nature). We organized a great lineup of guest speakers at different locations, but Doug also contributed unscripted insights along the way<\/a>, drawing on his vast store of knowledge about the city.<\/p>\n

After his retirement from a career<\/a> of teaching (and teaching teachers), Doug devoted himself to his painting and to writing down and sharing the treasury of local lore stored in his head. He wrote about the city\u2019s history in novels<\/a>, history books, and photography books. He based his writing on his own memories and on the stories told to him by his older relatives about growing up in Toronto, as well as on his extensive research.<\/p>\n

Doug also shared his knowledge on his delightful blog, Historic Toronto (tayloronhistory.com<\/a>). It reflects not only his knowledge and love of history, but also his ever-present warmth and sense of humour. The site is a treasure trove of information about Toronto\u2019s past, and I am glad to know that his executor is working to make sure it is kept available<\/a> as a valuable source of both reference and delight, and as a memory of his life and work.<\/p>\n

I had the pleasure of reviewing a couple of his books for Spacing<\/em>: Toronto Then and Now<\/a><\/em>, a photography book that paired archival photos with photos of the same location as the present, and, in the magazine, Lost Toronto<\/em><\/a>, which features remarkable Toronto buildings that have since been demolished. The Spacing Store sells both of these books, as well as Doug\u2019s histories of Toronto movie theatres, Toronto Theatres and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen<\/em><\/a> and Toronto\u2019s Local Movie Theatres of Yesteryear<\/em><\/a>. Check out this feature in Toronto Life<\/em> of Doug reminiscing about some of these theatres<\/a>, which captures his storytelling voice well.<\/p>\n

Toronto has changed rapidly in the past few decades \u2013 indeed, throughout its history \u2013 and Doug took part in that change. He was one of the pioneer inhabitants of a new building in a new downtown neighbourhood that had been a centre of industry for most of his life. But a healthy city stays connected to its past even while being open to the future, and Doug was one of the people who helped maintain that connection. Just recently, in fact, his book Lost Toronto<\/em> helped explain the mystery of the Dufferin Grove stones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For someone like myself who did not grow up in Toronto, he recounted tales that gave me the context of the city I found myself in as an adult. What\u2019s the history of that building? What was this neighbourhood like before I arrived? What are the stories of this area that I am just now discovering? Toronto is richer for having had him live his long life here, and for having him share his love of the city in so many ways.<\/p>\n

If anyone has memories of Doug Taylor and his work on Toronto\u2019s history, please share them in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doug Taylor, one of Toronto\u2019s local historians, died recently at the age of 82. I got to know Doug because we were both among the inaugural inhabitants of a new mid-rise residential building in the formerly industrial King-Spadina area in the early 2000s. Doug and his partner Ivan were natural organizers and warm, enthusiastic hosts,Continue reading “REID: Remembering Doug Taylor, a historian of Toronto”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4006,"featured_media":62501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-history"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nREID: Remembering Doug Taylor, a historian of Toronto - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/08\/24\/remembering-doug-taylor-a-historian-of-toronto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REID: Remembering Doug Taylor, a historian of Toronto - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Doug Taylor, one of Toronto\u2019s local historians, died recently at the age of 82. 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