His parents were born to immigrants who arrived in Vancouver in 1908. His father’s early years were spent in Fernie, BC, prior to attending UBC in the late 30s and then enlisted in the Canadian Air Force as a flight navigation instructor. His mother was born in Vancouver. Both parents met after an introduction from my mother’s brother, who also attended university, something rare for the sons of Canadian immigrants in the 1930s in British Columbia.

Henry was the second of six children who were introduced to work at a very early age, progressively moving from work in the family’s machine shop, boat building yard and then onto working as a deckhand, mate, and occasionally Captain of the company’s tugboats operating all over the BC Coast.

On some very good fatherly advice, Henry attended the University of British Columbia and then obtained an MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley. With an MBA under his belt, Henry arrived in Toronto on August 14, 1969, for his first job in the corporate world and where he met his wife Christine, the mother of his four children. Three of Henry’s kids live in Toronto, and his eldest daughter Jessica, lives in New York with her three children.

Henry’s career is a very long way from the tug boats of his youth and has encompassed corporate jobs of increasing responsibility, building and operating a leading strategic market research company, cofounding a successful ad agency, investing, diverse range of businesses in Canada and the US, spending time as a director in the 1990s for two years on the Board of Kids Help Phone and donating to various charities.

Currently dividing this time between a home he and his partner Louise built on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and at their farm in Caledon.

***

Which ’hood are you in?

Since arriving in Toronto, I have lived mostly life in the Annex, Yonge and St. Clair and Forest Hill. Our last home in the city was in a beautiful condo in the DuPont Avenue Road area before Covid persuaded us to live at the Caledon farm, where we live with our two Vizslas and now three cats, part of the year, then drive everyone out West for the winter months.

What do you do?

I enjoy time in nature, both of our farm and our property in British Columbia, while remaining active in several of the businesses that I’ve invested in, providing strategic guidance, mentoring, and helping younger entrepreneurs develop their business ideas.

What are you currently working on?

Currently working on perfecting my Salmon and Halibut Fishing skills and enjoying my Boat Rosie on Vancouver Island, travelling with my partner and my children and grandchildren. I just published my new book, “Fool’s Gold: Angel investing and the Fine Art of Losing Money.”

Where can we find your work?

Anyone with an interest in Angel investing, or sometimes it’s called start-up early-stage investing, will find my book available on Amazon, Indigo, and at select bookstores. “Fool’s Gold: Angel investing and the Fine Art of Losing Money” contains lessons learned over 60 years and how to avoid the potholes in land mines that wait both the novice and even seasoned investors in this high-risk area.

The post “A Day in the Life” with: Writer Henry Fiorillo appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Spencer first caught the world’s attention when he summited Mount Kilimanjaro using his hands and a wheelchair—a seven-day climb reaching 19,340 feet, all to raise awareness and funds for clean water and global education.

That incredible journey went on to inspire the feature documentary Redefine Possible: The Story of Spencer West, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. More than anything, it reflects Spencer’s belief that physical and other barriers can be challenged and changed through community, courageous vulnerability, and a whole lot of creativity.

Today, Spencer is one of the most recognizable and influential disability advocates in the world. With a social community of over 4 million followers on TikTok and millions more across other social media platforms, Spencer shares his stories encouraging people to let go of expectations that quietly limit their lives. Those lessons actually apply to anyone facing challenges, loss, or self-doubt.

His new book, BREAK FREE: Stop Following Expectations and Start Following Yourself (on bookshelves May 12) reflects on the lessons he learned navigating disability, community and purpose.

I had a chance to catch up with Spencer to find out more!

Can you tell us what it was like to share your personal story to such a young and very large crowd?

Spencer: I was very humbled to have the opportunity to speak to such a large and youthful crowd. When a crowd of that size cheers the stage literally shakes! That being said, speaking to a room of school age folks always felt so empowering. Young folks have a very powerful voice, platform and have the power to really transform the world in such miraculous ways. The fact that I got to witness and maybe even help empower them further was a real gift.

You’ve continued with more public speaking. What is it like for you to have a platform?

Spencer: My speaking has evolved over the years. Although the fundamentals stay the same, the topics and things I am passionate about evolve. I think the world will always need stories to help motivate and empower, but for me, the exciting work is expanding people’s minds and understanding of the world and identities. One of my favourite keynotes to deliver is Leveraging Talent with Disabilities. I talk about my own employment journey as a disabled person, using my lived experiences to help companies break down ableist myths that prevent them from hiring folks like me. For me, as long as I have a platform I want to use in service of my community and others, especially at this time in our history where politicians are using marginalized people and their identities to weaponize fear, hate and division. I hope to be the light that counteracts that through dialogue and my own lived experience.

I’ve heard kids ask you questions, and you’ve been generous with answering them. Some even made me laugh, but what’s it like from your perspective, and what do you wish people would ask you?

Spencer: It’s funny because I was quite open about people asking me questions. But as I’ve gotten older and really started to understand my identity of being disabled, I’ve come to realize it’s not my job to be everyone’s educator all of the time. What I mean by that is, if I’m at the grocery store or shopping for clothes, I don’t always want to share my story with a complete stranger. There’s this weird assumption that in order for people, specifically adults, to understand my experience, they are entitled to ask me very intrusive and inappropriate questions. However, you don’t need my medical history to understand my experience.

The question I wish people would ask me more often is “How are you finding the accessibility there?” That being said, I have a soft spot for kids who ask me questions because most of the time, they just need you to validate what they are seeing. I’ve heard everything from “Did a shark eat your legs?” “Were you in a magic show accident?” “Did you leave them in your other pants?”

Do you feel that the public has certain expectations from people in society that do not fit the “standard box” and what have you experienced? 

Spencer: Absolutely. This is the entire crux of my new book, Breaking Free. From the moment we enter the world, expectations are thrust upon us. Who you should marry. What your career should be. What “success” is supposed to look like, or basing your value on how much your body can perform. The list goes on and on! What I have experienced and highlighted in the book is that every time I broke free of those expectations and did what was right for me, everything worked out. I had to learn how to listen to my heart’s desire again because that voice had been silenced by all the spoken and unspoken expectations that are put on us.

How can we change that thinking? 

Spencer: The framework for my new book is pretty simple. It all comes down to self-trust, self-confidence and understanding the difference. Self-trust is knowing and listening to what your heart is telling you to do. Self-confidence is believing you can actually do it. So many of us have one without the other. As I mentioned earlier every time, I was authentic to who I was, that’s when the magic happened. Roughly 20 years ago, I returned home to the United States from a transformative volunteer trip to Kenya and packed up my entire life and moved to Toronto to become a motivational speaker. I had never done anything that wild before. I had all the self-trust in my path to becoming a speaker, but very little confidence. What builds confidence was small wins, having mentors to work with me on speaking, setting small attainable goals and reaching them. These wins helped build the internal architecture to live life on my own terms and not someone else’s.

What else can you tell us about your latest book and what inspired you to write this? 

Spencer: I wrote this book for anyone who has ever felt trapped in a job, relationship, city and wasn’t sure what to do or how to get out of that trap. I use stories from my life as a road map on all the things I did to break free. Also, I didn’t want this book to just be about my story because I understand being queer and disabled isn’t everyone’s experience. Which is why at the end of every chapter I have included questions for reflection, new perspectives to ponder and activities to help folks start exploring how they can break free in their own lives. Starting with “Where in your life right now does it feel like nothing fits?” I want folks to stop accepting that this is the way your life is, and start wondering what else your life could be.

No doubt, people will take away some interesting learning points from this book. But now that it’s ready to hit the bookshelves, what do you really hope readers will take from this? 

Spencer: My book is based around one of my favourite quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. He writes, “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” I hope, through my story, reflective questions and activities, folks can start to explore who they were meant to be in the first place as well.

That’s a great quote. I’m going to savour that one. Will you be going on tour with this book? If so, how can we learn more? 

Spencer: The best way for people to stay in the know with what I’m up to and how they can support me and the book is to follow me on social media (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube) @Spencer2TheWest or check out my website at www.spencer2thewest.com. Also, I am starting a book club where folks can join other friends and me once a week in a facilitated experience using the questions and activities at the end of each chapter to dive deep into Breaking Free and exploring how they can break free in their own lives. Check out my website for more info!

What’s next on your “live life” list? 

Spencer: For now, it’s just getting this book and message out into the world and continuing to create content online about my life and the intersectionality of being queer and disabled and all that comes along with that.

And finally, what are you reading these days? 

Spencer: I’m currently reading The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, and recently I read The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. I am obsessed with that book!

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat!

The post Spencer West Breaks Free From Expectations in His Latest Book appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Farah’s books are about joy and about giving Brown people the happily ever afters she couldn’t find in books growing up. Her characters come to life with their unique personalities and quirks, and genuine joy that oozes off the paper. To write joy, you have to know it, and she is so happy to be living out her writer fantasies. Farah lives at home with her two kids, husband, and two adorable cats.

-Written by Anissa Heron

***

Which ’hood are you in?

I currently live in Scarborough, very close to the buffs. It’s such a vibrant and diverse part of Toronto, and it has been a great place to raise my kids. I’m pretty outdoorsy, so I love that there are amazing hiking trails and breathtaking scenery right here, but it’s also so easy to get downtown for events, theatre and restaurants. That said, as a lover of great food, nowhere in the city compares to Scarborough for food. I was born and grew up in Toronto suburbs, so have lived the GTA my whole life and don’t see myself ever leaving.

What do you do?

I’m a romance writer for both adults and teens. I have 6 adult romantic comedies, all set in Toronto, about south-Asian Canadians navigating culture and family expectations while falling in love. And I have four young-adult (teen) novels (three YA rom-coms and one YA mystery) about south-Asian teens figuring out who they are and their place in the world, all (of course) while falling in love.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m in promotion mode for my newest book, A Little Holiday Fling, which is my first holiday romance. It’s about a Christmas loving free-spirit who is weeks away from fulfilling her and her late mother’s dream of owning an inn in England. She needs to impress a grumpy holiday-hating dermatologist so he’ll introduce her to his hotel-owning family to get a foot in the door in the UK hotel industry. The book is full of all my favourite Christmas in Toronto places, like the Distillery Winter Market, skating at Nathan Phillips Square, and even shopping at the Eaton Centre.

Where can we find your work?

My books can be bought wherever books are sold! I encourage you to visit one of Toronto’s many independent bookstores, and if my book isn’t on the shelf, the bookseller can order it for you.

The post “A Day in the Life” with: Writer Farah Heron appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

-Written by Christine Armstrong

***

Which ’hood are you in?

I live in Portsmouth Village in Kingston. It is a historic part of the city and a hidden gem. I live in an apartment building that looks out over the lake; I can hear the waves crashing as I write this. I pretend it is the Atlantic Ocean, and that helps me stay connected to people and places I love.

What do you do?

I am a professor of Drama at Queen’s University. I am also a writer, theatre maker, and mother. That last part has become important and takes up most of my time and energy.

What are you currently working on?

I don’t have much writing time these days but I am currently working on three projects: a literary memoir about IVF and parenting called Dreambaby; a scholarly article related to Dionne Brand’s masterpiece A Map to the Door of No Return; and I am also revising an old play that I previously abandoned because the characters were telling me things I found too scary.

Where can we find your work?

My play Heartlines: A Love Story about the lives and love of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore is out now with Talonbooks; you can find it wherever books are sold. In terms of other recent work, you can find my first published play, Monstrous, in the journal alt.theatre issue 13.3. A creative non-fiction piece I wrote about IVF was published last year by MUTHA Magazine here. A few years ago, I had the chance to write about race and the future of Canadian theatre in an essay entitled “We Are Holding Our Breath” in Theatre Research in Canada. I hope to find a publisher for that above-mentioned memoir so you can eventually read it too! In the meantime, I’m also hoping to make Substack my friend via @writingwhilemom

The post “A Day in the Life” with: Writer Sarah Waisvisz appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

-Written by Jackie’s husband

***

Which ’hood are you in?

I live with my family in Markham Village, which is a GO Train ride away from the city core. I never get tired of the view of the CN Tower when I step outside of Union Station. When I was first married, we lived in a 1970s house in Unionville, which we loved, but soon the area became a little too busy for us.

What do you do?

I’m a young adult author, but currently working on my adult fiction debut. I’m also a mother of two girls, 10 and 12 and a dog mom.

What are you currently working on?

Have been surviving the last months! I had three separate deadlines for three different projects. I attended EVER AFTER, a romance festival organized by TIFA, and planned two birthday parties while reminding my family to send me their Christmas wish lists!

Where can we find your work?

My first two YA novels, Something More and You Started It, are available wherever books are sold, or via my website if you’d like a signed copy. I’m also fairly active on both Instagram and TikTok. My third YA novel, Everything Comes Back to You, releases August 4, 2026, as well as a novella sequel to my debut, Something More. There are a couple of unannounced projects that I’m excited to talk about soon!

The post “A Day in the Life” with: Writer Jackie Khalilieh appeared first on Toronto Guardian.