Monday, February 03, 2014

Robyn Doolittle talks Rob Ford and Crazy Town

Toronto Star reporter Robyn Doolittle discussed her new book Crazy Town -- about the drama surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, the investigation that led his belated admission to having used crack cocaine (once, probably during one of his drunken stupours) and how the Ford phenomenon  cane to be -- with Twitter Canada managing director Kristen Stewart at the Bloor Docs Cinema in Toronto on Monday evening.

I attended, and came home with my own copy of the book. I got a few chapters in on the subway and its a fascinating read so far, with a lot of interesting revelations about Doug Ford Sr. already that were news to me. And just the timeline at the front of the book is something. We all lived through the events, but to see it all listed there on the page -- the racist comments at city council, the drunken profanity at the Leafs game, the Florida arrest, the Garrison Ball, the crack video -- it staggers the mind to see it all in one place.

I last heard Doolittle speak in September on a Star panel on city hall at the Word on the Street event. At the time, they seemed pessimistic the proof would come out, and suspected the video had been located and destroyed. It's been quite the turnaround since then.

Below are my live tweets of the night's event, along with some tweets and pics from others that caught my eye. Doolittle and all the team at the Toronto Star have been very courageous and tenacious in their coverage, which is definitely far from finished. They deserve our support for still practising good, old-fashoned journalism. Crazy Town is an excellent read so far, but I suspect the last chapter on the Fords won't be written for some time yet.

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