From My Autobiography - Early Life in Toronto

Early Life in Toronto

After we’ve lived in the boarding house for awhile, I notice the woman in the apartment next to ours seems to have a different male visitor almost every night...

One day, I’m throwing darts at a board hanging on the back of the apartment door. My sister suddenly walks in, and I barely miss hitting her in the face with a dart...

From what I remember, I believe dad and mum slept on a pull-out sofa bed while Margaret and I each had a folding cot. Mine was opposite/behind the door to the apartment.

Unable to find a job as a painter and decorator because he is apparently 'overqualified’ and no one wants to pay him what they think he's worth, Dad eventually finds work at Sunnybrook Hospital as a male nurse.

Mum also finds part-time work at the hospital.

SUMMER
Mum finds a part-time job at a United Church summer camp for underprivileged children. She's allowed to take Margaret and me along so we can join in the fun and activities with the other kids.

During the camp:

    ■ I win first prize for shooting a bull's-eye in an archery contest.

Although I was never really into sports when I was growing up [I broke my glasses twice trying to catch the ball while playing outfield in baseball when I was in high school], I did enjoy archery later when I was able to do it at a gun and archery range during my teen years in France.

    ■ I get a small part [as a servant?] in a play about Damon and Pythias.

This second incident began a continued interest in theatre productions, several in which I would perform over the coming years.

    ■ My teenaged cabin counsellor invites me into his bed one night and molests me.

This latter incident had a profound and lasting effect on my life: it ignited a curiosity about, and fascination with, sexuality. Whereas most people who are victims of molestation seem to have negative effects following the experience, I became intensely interested in sex. Whether one deems that ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ is, of course, a matter for debate, and one with which I wrestled for many years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister and me in the Fall