Book description
Advance praise for Memories of the Beach:
"Lorraine O'Donnell Williams has given us a charming and
evocative memoir of the Beach districit six or seven decades ago, when
it was a separate world in the southeast corner of Toronto. Everyone
who knew the Beach that was, and everyone who knows the Beach of
today, will enjoy her account of growing up in that special
place." -- Robert Fulford, author of Accidental City: The
Transformation of Toronto
"In this richly rendered memoir of a Catholic girl growing up
in Toronto's Beach community in the 1930s and 1940s, Lorraine Williams
not only vividly captures the feeling of a more innocent age, but at
the same time touches on a universal truth -- that the place in which
we are nurtured forms an integral part of the person we become. Simply
wonderful." -- Michael Bedard, author of the Governor General
Award-winning Redwork
In this rare combination of history and memoir, Lorraine O'Donnell
Williams details life within Toronto's Beach community in the 1930s
and '40s from the vantage point of her front verandah, which abutted
the boardwalk. Her extensive research has uncovered numerous hidden
facets of the heritage of this exceptional neighbourhood, including
the stories of what was in its time one of North America's most
remarkable amusement parks, the popular dance hall, and how the area
was transformed from cottage to urban living.
Memories of the Beach
makes an excellent summer read, one that may leave you thinking about
your own childhood and the places and times that formed the person you
are today.
Lorraine O'Donnell Williams was born and raised in the
Beach district of Toronto. Her career has included senior positions in
the correctional, forensic psychiatry, and psychiatric fields of
social work. The mother of five adult children, she recently retired
from private practice to write full-time and currently lives with her
husband in Markham, Ontario.
