← The Fife and Drum / October 2009 (Vol 13, No 3)
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Our friend and colleague Stephen Otto has been honoured with two prestigious heritage awards this autumn. On September 25 the Heritage Canada Foundation presented the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Heritage Conservation at the Provincial/Territorial Level. Citing contributions over forty years, the Foundation noted Steve’s focus on the public realm and the places that define people’s experience in Ontario, his dedication to public education, and his role as a source of inspiration to others in the field.
The 2009 Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award, presented on October 13, acknowledges and celebrates long-term achievement in the heritage field: “Stephen Otto is one of the city’s most determined advocates for the preservation and promotion of Toronto’s built and documentary heritage, which he has fought to have recognized as an integral part of city building. His power to protect the city’s soul as a strong voice of the city’s conscience also makes him a great urban leader.”
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Cambridge University, and the Harvard Business School, Steve was the founding head of heritage conservation programs in the Ministry of Culture & Recreation from 1975 to 1981. He has worked as a consulting historian, served on various boards, and published several books on architectural history. A founder of the Friends of Fort York in 1994, he acted as the first chair of this organization and recently completed another term.
Shawn Micallef of Spacing Magazine added a personal touch to the Heritage Toronto Award event: “For many of us somewhat new to Toronto’s city building scene, Stephen has become a wonderful mentor and friend. We find it valuable to simply hang around Stephen and absorb his passion for city and heritage issues. He has given us an understanding of how to not just articulate an issue well, but how to get something done about it. … Stephen knows how to negotiate the channels of change. The body of knowledge and subtle skills he shares with us is massive. … Stephen is a rare breed of heritage activist who also understands the contemporary city that we all live in. His efforts to weave heritage issues into city building – without stopping progress – have made, and continue to make Toronto a better place.”
In his remarks Steve reminded the audience gathered to celebrate Toronto’s heritage and the role of Fort York: “There are wonderful changes going on at Fort York, Toronto’s birthplace. We will see the historic fort revitalized, a new Visitor Centre constructed outside the ramparts, and the grounds transformed into a new 41 acre park. I invite Torontonians to join me and become stewards for these important developments.” He added, “I wouldn’t ask all of you to contribute to this wonderful project if I wasn’t prepared to do so myself. Tonight I announce that I will contribute a quarter of a million dollars to help revitalize Fort York.”
We add our congratulations to the standing ovation that rocked The Carlu as Steve concluded.
In Review
Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, 1813
by Michael McAllister
With bayonets charged, the little party set off down the road at a run reverting to the most basic form of warfare when man-to-man combat with edged weapons was the standard and impromptu charges the norm. Certainly there was little in Formation, Field Exercises and Movements of His Majesty’s Forces governing middle-of-the-night headlong dashes against enemy artillery.
So writes James Elliot in describing the British charge which sounded the death knell for American forces in his much anticipated book Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, 1813. The section quoted above is one of many gripping moments in a very readable account of a battle that brought the Americans campaign in the Niagara Peninsula to a halt in the late spring of 1813.
Facts and perceptions of participants and observers are well presented such that the reader gets new insight into a battle and war that is clouded by the mists of time. For many Canadians the War of 1812 represents a golden age when we, as Canadians, resisted American invaders and then took a trip to Washington to burn their, soon to be renamed and repainted “White House”. In refreshing contrast Mr. Elliot
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