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Scarce English-language paperback, x + 278 pages + 40 pages of glossy b&w plates, NOT ex-library. Title page signed by the Author. Creased spine, else very good: clean and bright with unmarked text, firmly bound. Limited signs of gentle handling. -- A portrait and a collage, the book presents both a neighborhood and a community which many people from almost every corner of the globe call home. Roncesvalles Avenue symbolizes constant strive for excellence and success in human endeavor as well as tolerance and pluralism. The Saga focuses on challenges all newcomers face in a country in which they chose to live. The story of Roncesvalles Avenue also vividly illustrates an important chapter in Canada's multicultural history and thus helps celebrate Toronto's great achievements as a vibrant cultural center. Roncesvalles Avenue, where the past and the present are inextricably linked, can serve as a model for other Canadian communities concerned with the issues of multiculturalism. Colonel Walter O'Hara, a genial Irishman who built the West Lodge in 1831, gave the name Roncesvalles to the main road marked on his property. During the Napoleonic Wars O'Hara had been wounded and captured by the French near the Roncesvalles Gorge. In 1850, when he purchased lots situated north of Queen Street, the entire property was just a forest. As late as 1889 only a few Roncesvalles addresses were recorded in the Toronto Directory: florists, gardeners, and milkmen. For almost a century the population of the Parkdale area,of which Roncesvalles Avenue is a part, was predominantly Anglo-Saxon. It was only in the 1950s, with an influx of Lithuanians, Latvians, Germans, Ukrainians and Poles, that its character began to change. The role of the Poles grew in importance when, under the leadership of Father Smith, St. Casimir's Church was built. "The foreman for the lathing part", Father Smith wrote in his diary, "was a gentleman by the name of Mr. Kelly, who swore like a trooper but who showed considerable sympathy for the church". This is a book for adults and for children, for those who know this area well and for those who never heard of its existence. It tells the story of kind, friendly enterprising people, who thrive on diversity. Written, revised, and updated between 1989 and 1993, The Saga of Roncesvalles is being published in both Polish and English. It includes 100 black-and-white photographs, either taken by the author, or drawn from archival collections, an index of names, as well as a list of references. Author: Andrew Pawlowski, a physician, sculptor, and a writer born in Warsaw, Poland has lived in Canada since 1973. He practices medicine in the Roncesvalles area and has published over 50 papers in international medical journals, many articles on art and artists in the Polish-Canadian press, and five books. -- Contents: Forward; Introduction; 1. The Gorge and Hamlet in the Pyrenees 2. Chanson de Roland 3. Colonel Walter O'Hara 4. Toronto During the Time of the Colonel 5. Whatever Happened to the Colonel's Body? 6. Who? What? Where? 7. Entreaties, Newspapers and Careers 8. Ronsi: In Other Words, a TTC Romance 9. Mrs. Agnieszka Gontarz's Thesis 10. The Church of St. Vincent de Paul 11. Patina and Character 12. Cafe Berlin 13. Shops and Trade with a Charm from the Past 14. Father Smith: The Polish Neighbourhood's Founder 15. Parisian Fashions and Herring 16. Doctor Shulman and Others 17. The Artificial Foot of Lenny Jackson 18. Cyclists 19. Artists 20. The Carnival 21. The Napoleonka; Footnotes; References; Index.
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