Leslieville Lives; Stories from the ‘Ville – Jimmy Gorzsas

Meet Jimmy. A familiar face to many, Jimmy has been walking dogs in the hood for years now. It’s hard to miss him. His flamboyant style and tanned buff physique in Summer are part of Leslieville’s landscape. He’s the quintessential ‘happy guy’ and the Pied Piper of the dog world. I’ve been bumping into Jimmy regularly since 2009. I  know my 3 loved him. Every morning at Maple Leaf Park we were always greeted with, ‘Good Morning Ladies’. And when I had George, ‘Good Morning Ladies, and Gentleman.’

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Leslieville Lives; Stories from the ‘Ville – Good Night Sunshine; Shine on

There’s not many people, let alone dogs, that can endear themselves to firemen, bakers, groomers and police, but Sunshine managed to steal the hearts of everyone she met.  She was by my side every day of our 365 journey through Leslieville no matter the weather: rain, snow, sleet and heat and every day thereafter. She became a regular treat mooch at It’s the Icing on the Cake, Any Direct Flight and on the street, where we’d see her buddy Jim, (whose treat pocket was seemingly endless!) pretty much daily, stocking up on ‘sustenance’ for her long morning walks .

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Leslieville Lives; Stories from the Ville – Alex Dordevic

Meet Alex. The only child of Peter and Joan, Alex’s surname is a bit of a giveaway to his roots. His father was born and raised in Serbia (former Yugoslavia), his mom in South Africa, but they met in Montreal in the 1950s when they both worked for the U.N., married and subsequently had Alex.

Alex’s formative years were spent globe-trotting due to his parents work with the UN. He spent most of his youth in Africa, namely The DRC (Congo) previously Zaire, Kenya and South Africa. He went to the American high school in Kinshasa and was also home schooled.

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Leslieville Lives; Stories from the ‘Ville – Henk & Yanka Van der Kolk

Meet Henk & Yanka. I was initially meeting to interview Henk, when his lovely wife Yanka answered the door on my arrival at their Leslieville live/work space. Henk was running late, so for the better part of an hour, I learned quite a bit about the talented and fascinating Yanka, so decided to make this ‘their’ story.

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