FINALIST FOR TORONTO BOOK AWARDS

The inside story of the grassroots fight to have a suicide barrier erected on Toronto’s “bridge of death.”

Most Torontonians have no idea their city once hosted the second most popular suicide magnet in North America, behind the Golden Gate Bridge. Since its completion in 1918, more than four hundred people jumped to their death from the Bloor Viaduct, which spans the cavernous Don Valley.

That number might still be rising if not for the tireless efforts of a group of volunteers, led by two citizens, who fought City Hall for years to get a suicide barrier erected. Not only did they win, they saved numerous lives and brought to light valuable research on how barriers actually lower suicide numbers overall. The resulting barrier — The Luminous Veil — has been praised for its ingenious and inspiring design.

The Suicide Magnet tells how the battle was won, and explores the ongoing efforts to help those suffering from mental health challenges.

After years working in homicide, retired Toronto detective Steve Ryan reflects on six cases he will never forget.

Retired detective Steve Ryan worked in Toronto’s homicide squad for over a decade. For Ryan, the stories of Toronto’s most infamous crimes were more than just a headline read over morning coffee — they were his everyday life.

After investigating over one hundred homicides, Ryan can never forget the tragedies and the victims, even after his retirement from the police force. In The Ghosts That Haunt Me, he reflects on six of the many cases that greatly impacted him — seven people whose lives were senselessly taken — and that he still thinks about nearly every day. While the stories are hard to tell for Ryan, they were harder to live through. Yet somewhere between the crimes and the heartache is a glimmer of hope that good eventually does prevail and that healing can come after grief.

McGuinty brandit une torche, il éclaire la voie pour les politiciens qui luttent pour être de « belles âmes ».

La politique ressemble parfois à une traversée maritime périlleuse. Ballottés par la tempête, les politiciens peuvent perdre de vue les étoiles qui les guident. Ils peuvent perdre leur chemin. Ils peuvent se perdre eux-mêmes. Ils peuvent faire et dire des choses qui trahissent leur responsabilité fondamentale : donner le meilleur d’eux-mêmes à celles et ceux qu’ils représentent.

Dans Sois une belle âme, Dalton McGuinty incite les dirigeants à demeurer fidèles à eux-mêmes et à celles et ceux qu’ils ont le privilège de servir, même dans des contextes difficiles. Leader chevronné ayant passé plus de deux décennies dans l’arène politique, McGuinty a habilement rassemblé une collection de citations qui remontent à plusieurs siècles, et qu’il accompagne de conseils mesurés. Cet ouvrage est une boussole pour toutes les politiciennes et pour quiconque aspire à diriger avec intégrité.

The War of 1812 revealed many heroes and heroines from both Canada and the United States, and Major-General Sir Isaac Brock (1769–1812) was one of them.

The Astonishing General tells of Brock's life, his career, and his legacy, particularly in the Canadas, and of the context in which he lived. Despite his success in capturing Detroit, Brock was, in some ways, the most unlikely of heroes. He was admired by his American foes almost as much as by his own people and he was revered far and wide. This reputation was furthered by his success in winning Tecumseh’s trust and ensuring that the great leader’s formidable army was loyal to the British. Even more striking is how a British general whose military role lasted less than five months became the best-known hero of that two-and-a-half-year war.

The Astonishing General is Wesley B. Turner’s exploration of this unlikely hero and his astounding legacy.

Winner of the 2011 Ontario Historical Society Donald Grant Creighton Award

The Ancestors Are Happy is a masterfully-woven tapestry portraying a landscape of stories. It also offers a compilation of personal tales from Inuit informants whose lives collectively span the twentieth century, a period of remarkable transition for the North. This compelling book draws on the author's experiences and encounters over forty years of living, travelling, an learning in Nunavut. David Pelly's lucid text is rooted in oral-history collected from Inuit elders, for which work he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in his meticulous historic research. The reader will be carried on a journey across Canada's Arctic, into the land itself and into the lives of a memorable array of northern characters. At the core is an exploration of Inuit cultural tradition, the hallmark of David Pelly's celebrated writing career, which includes nine previous books and countless magazine articles. The ancestors are happy, say Inuit elders, when stories form the land are told, and retold, and preserved.