Kiss Me You Mad Fool, 1990

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Kiss Me You Mad Fool

Toronto: Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre, 1990.

a book cover decorated with splashes of green, red, orange and yellow with the words "Kiss Me You Mad Fool" painted on topKiss Me You Mad Fool embodies the power of collective creative process.

A members Writing Group began at Toronto’s PARC (Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre) in 1988.  For thirty-two years, PARC writers have gathered around a table to respond to a prompt, and write for twenty minutes.  The writing produced in this fashion is an articulate and passionate account of the PARC community and the lives of those who have passed through its doors.  In 1991, the still young organization published its first collection of PARC writing: Kiss Me You Mad Fool (1991), taking the personal views and histories of members into a public forum. Its table of contents is nearly 7 pages in length, listing the writing of 34 PARC authors.

It’s vivid cover a detail taken from a 50-foot long Valentine’s Day’s mural created at PARC, the project was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health.  Kiss Me includes a series of powerful authors’ portraits taken by then staff person David Littman and developed in PARC’s on-site dark room.