Category Archives: Cities

(September 21, 1996) Since 1900, Out life spans have increased by 30 years, from an average of about 45 to today’s 75 years. This climb has occurred imperceptibly, not in leaps and bounds with medical discoveries and public health breakthroughs but bit by bit. Continue reading →

(June 21, 1996) Hilary, whom I see once or twice a year on her visits to her middle-class parents in Toronto, is very much like them, except that she is poor. Continue reading →

(June 21, 1996) The pregnant woman is wide-eyed with bewilderment. Her husband stands behind her, his hands gripping the back of her chair, his face blank with amazement. Across a desk, their doctor faces them and announces: “The good news is, you are having a healthy baby girl. The bad news i, she’s a congenital liar.” Continue reading →

(June 21, 1996) Of all the manifestations of urban poverty, panhandling is the most visible and the most disturbing. It assaults us during that most ordinary activity — walking down the street. Panhandlers are there when we walk to the cinema, when we go to work, when we stroll in the park. Continue reading →