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| Rusholme Street House, Toronto |
I made an amazing
discovery today. A space that I imagined in a book, an imagined space that
never existed, left a magical imprint on a park bench. Which likely doesn't
make much sense, so okay, I'll start at the beginning. I've written three books
in the Lost Gargoyle series, which are all set in Toronto. Some of the
descriptions of all three places are very real: the CN Tower, the Rogers
Centre, the CNE grounds, the Riverdale Farm and Necropolis, all are true and
actual places in Toronto. The magical action between the main characters and
their gargoyle friends takes place in these real settings. There is also a
house in my neighbourhood, which is very much like Christopher Canning's house
that I describe in The Gargoyle at the Gates. The real house (on Rusholme
Street) near me has a wraparound porch and turret bedroom, but it is not beside
my imagined creation of Gatepost Park. In fact, Gatepost Park doesn't exist. Which
is sad, because it would be beautiful, with a wrought iron fence, a seahorse
fountain, and gorgeous gargoyles at the gate posts. I've looked, the park exists only in my imagination.
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| Bench in Leslie Grove park: the gargoyles in my book plant an apple tree in Gatepost Park |
BUT, Gatepost Park is very loosely based on a once unloved park on Queen Street
East, called Leslie Grove Park. I lived in Leslieville for several years in the
80s, and used to walk through this little neglected space and think how much it
needed someone to care for it. Well, like Gatepost Park in my story, someone clearly does care for Leslie Grove Park these days, and now it's transformed. Look what
someone painted on a bench there: "Green grass, green hanging leaves,
whispering in the gentle breeze, a treasure hidden beneath the trees, a fallen
apple."
This is lovely enough, but guess what my gargoyles plant in imaginary Gatepost Park? An apple tree. Those apples somehow made their appearance on the poetry on this Leslie Grove bench. Pure magic!
