A tale of death threats, tarnished reputations and literary jealousy
By Leah McLaren

(Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)

The streets near Scarborough’s Confederation Park curve and loop in a vertiginous web. The neighbourhood was built in the 1970s—several blocks of low-lying split-levels and bungalows divided by neatly trimmed hedges and 20-foot pines. The 401 is just a few blocks away, but these houses are quiet and isolated, even prim. Ling Zhang lives here in a large mock Tudor. She answers the door on the first ring, a diminutive woman with full moon cheeks and a bashful smile. At 54, she wears her hair in a wispy, youthful updo and is dressed in a peacock-blue sundress, a simple cardigan and slippers. The house is immaculate. We pass through a large front hall with a formal dining and living room off either side. Matching white leather sofas sprawl across polished cherry floors. Everywhere I look, there are vases filled with flowers in pastel pink and white. They’re all fake, but the effect is cheerful.

In the kitchen, Zhang makes me a cup of tea. Her husband, Ken He, a slight man in a short-sleeved plaid shirt, pops in to say hello—but not much else. Zhang explains his English isn’t great. “Moving to Toronto was a big sacrifice for him,” she says. The couple met in Vancouver, at the church where Zhang, a born-again Christian, was baptized as an adult. They came to Toronto so Zhang could take a job at Scarborough General Hospital as an audiologist. Her husband, who was an ophthalmologist in China, now sells real estate to the GTA’s Chinese immigrant community.

(Image: Carlo Mendoza)

Until recently, Zhang made her living treating patients for hearing loss, but in 2010 she quit to concentrate full-time on her writing. She is the author of nine Chinese language books, including the bestseller Aftershock, about the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan. A government-sponsored film adaptation of the book brought in $100 million at the box office in China, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese movie ever. This fall, Penguin Canada released an English translation of her sprawling historical epic Gold Mountain Blues. The book is her first novel to be translated. It spans from 1872 to the present and tells the story of five generations of a Chinese family who came to work, live and eventually settle in Canada. At over 500 pages, it’s an ambitious book, both in subject matter and in heft.

The novel became a bestseller and critical hit in China and won a number of awards. The TV and film rights were optioned, and foreign rights sold in 12 countries. Its Canadian publishers are hoping it will become the first East-West crossover bestseller. Last year, a panel discussion devoted to Zhang’s books was held at an international symposium on Chinese-Canadian literature at York University. Xueqing Xu, one of the organizing professors, described Gold Mountain Blues to me as “a milestone in Chinese-Canadian literature in its scope, depth and characterization.”

Thus far, the novel has proven Ling Zhang’s personal gold mountain—a financial and reputational game changer in a literary career that had been restricted to China and Taiwan. But as the old Chinese proverb goes, if you go up the mountain too often, you will eventually encounter the tiger. In Zhang’s case, the metaphorical beast is a wave of allegations, which started in the Chinese blogosphere and made its way across the globe, that Gold Mountain Blues plagiarizes Denise Chong, Sky Lee, Wayson Choy and Paul Yee—four of this country’s most established Chinese-Canadian writers. In October, Lee, Choy and Yee launched a civil claim for almost $10 million in damages against Penguin Canada, Zhang and the book’s translator, Nicky Harman, which also demands that the book be pulled from the shelves and pulped.

Whatever happens, it’s difficult to imagine a positive outcome for Zhang. Plagiarism is the most serious professional allegation a writer can face, an accusation that produces an instant and lingering stain on even the most sterling literary reputation.

When you’re dead, your Facebook page becomes a permanent digital gravestone, and your family and friends (and quite possibly some strangers) will indulge in a free-for-all of trivializing hagiography. The perils of online legacies
By Nicholas Hune-Brown

It was 11 in the morning on a warm Friday in September when a 16-year-old boy named Akash Wadhwa plunged from the Mavis Road overpass onto the busy 401. Shortly afterward, Peel police found the slain body of his classmate Kiranjit Nijjar in a nearby ravine.

At Mississauga Secondary School, what had begun as a series of horrific rumours solidified, piece by piece, into a single, devastating murder-suicide story. According to reports, Wadhwa, a depressed and troubled Grade 12 student, had strangled his 17-year-old friend Nijjar and then jumped onto the highway. Before he leapt, Wadhwa had left a last message on Facebook: “SUICIDE/MURDER NOTE: Three things I learned in life. What goes around comes around. KARMA is the biggest bitch. You should NEVER CHANGE on people who love and care for you… My one main reason I did this is that life let me down way too much.”

Shocked classmates reacted to the news the same way we all react to a world-shaking event in 2011—by going online. Wadhwa’s friends started a Facebook memorial page, “RIP Akash Wadhwa,” to mourn the person they had known and prevent him from being remembered solely for his final actions. The first post read: “You will be missed by all. Doesn’t matter if you were suspected of anything. At the end of the day you were a friend, a son and a person that has touched all.” Commenters decried the group for celebrating a murderer. Why would anyone want a killer to “rest in peace”? How would Nijjar’s parents feel about a page memorializing the person who had taken their daughter’s life? Every new post produced dozens of messages arguing the merits of a 16-year-old’s actions in the brutal style familiar to anyone who reads Internet comment sections, where even the most trivial article can provoke reams of ugly accusations and name-calling. “Let’s hope this murderer rots in hell,” read a typical post. “Shut the fuck up” became the most common response.

Soon, new Facebook pages began to pop up. A second, equally contentious “RIP Akash Wadhwa” memorial page appeared that same day (confusingly, Facebook allows multiple pages with the same name). The moderator of a page in tribute to both students, “RIP Akash Wadhwa and Kiranjit Nijjar,” removed a picture of Wadhwa after it was inundated with vitriol. In response to the memorials, someone started an “Akash Wadhwa, celebrated murderer?” page dedicated to discussing the “bizarre phenomenon of public vigils for those who murder.” The “Justice for Kiranjit Nijjar” page posted an online poll soliciting opinions as the case unfolded: “Do you think Akash killed Kiran?”

In the private-public hybrid world of online social networks, the deaths of two teenagers had become fodder for debate. As strangers who had never known the students began jumping into the argument, Facebook tribute pages turned into a new, incendiary kind of virtual memorial.

Just as the Internet has changed every facet of how we live, so it is changing the way we die. Death is increasingly something you find out about on your laptop or smart phone. Unless the deceased is particularly close, you’re likely to learn of a friend’s death the same way you find out about her birthday or engagement—as a blip on your Facebook news feed, sandwiched between party photos and cute animal videos.

In just a few short years, the Facebook memorial page has become an accepted rite of mourning, appropriate for both public figures like Jack Layton and private citizens like Kiranjit Nijjar. When someone dies, his or her online profile page also undergoes an immediate transformation. Last year, when a friend of a friend of mine died, her Facebook page instantly changed from the log of a living person’s thoughts and feelings and trivial interests into a digital shrine. Her final status update, which just happened to be a message of hope and optimism, took on new significance. The page became a place where friends could visit months and even a year later to look at pictures, commiserate with one another and leave messages for the deceased and for her friends and family.

Shortly after Jeremy Day shuttered his Parkdale wine and cheese bar Café Taste in October, rumours began to fly that someone associated with the Black Hoof would be taking over the space. The building’s owner, however, wouldn’t spill the beans. Thanks to some enthusiastic tweeting last night from Hoof owner Jen Agg and others, the cat’s now out of the bag: the new spot, called Grand Electric, opened last night with ex–Hoof chef de cuisine Colin Tooke at the helm. A bare-bones website and Twitter account have been set up, from which we learn the bar will have “Mexican food, craft beer, brown liquor and loud music.” Agg, for one seems pretty excited: she appended the hashtag “#proudmama” to her congratulatory tweet.

Well there’ll probably be five in the next 10 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Mexico City opened pretty much in any order of those four.

Let’s hope Toronto is at the top of that order.

Back in April, we reported that Daniel Boulud was another in the growing group of Michelin-starred chefs to snub Toronto in favour of Vancouver or Montreal. Not so, apparently: the National Post’s Shinan Govani confirmed yesterday the rumours that the lauded New York chef of Daniel fame will be opening a restaurant in the new Four Seasons hotel and condo complex on Bay Street (there’s an official announcement scheduled for next Thursday). This is the second Canadian hotel partnership in the works for the chef, who is opening Maison Boulud in Montreal in early 2012 to coincide with a $150-million renovation to the Montreal Ritz-Carlton. Previously, Boulud opened and subsequently closed two restaurants in Vancouver, DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière, after only two years in business.

We imagine the Toronto restaurant will likely open  in mid-2012, around the same time as the new Four Seasons complex. Boulud himself is already scheduled to be in Toronto next week for the annual Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, so we’d bet he’ll be present for the big announcement. The sharp-eyed Govani got wind of the news by perusing the latest issue of Leaders magazine (something we vow to start doing), where Boulud’s long-time partner Lili Lynton let the cat out of the bag. One outstanding question: will the mystery buyer of the $28-million Four Seasons penthouse have room service access to the three–Michelin starred chef?

• Shinan: Daniel Boulud headed to Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel? [National Post]
• Setting the Standard [Leaders]

(Images: skyline, Seekdes from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool; Boulud, winestem)

The Jays may or may not be in the market for Heath Bell (Image: SD Dirk)

With baseball’s trade deadline just around the corner, rumours are flying as to what kind of magic Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos may have up his sleeve. On Thursday, reports emerged that the Bluebirds may be taking a close look at acquiring the San Diego Padres’ coveted closer Heath Bell. Bell is arguably the hottest commodity on the trade market (read: the Yanks, Red Sox and Phillies are all after him), and even if bringing in the 33-year-old doesn’t exactly fit in with the Blue Jays’ current youth movement, there are a number of reasons Anthopoulos might pull the trigger on the deal.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal has more:

What are the Jays thinking?

It’s possible they want to acquire a reliever to spin him to another club. Then again, the Jays rank next to last in save percentage in the American League. They might want a genuine closer for next season.

Bell is a potential free agent, but the Jays would stand a better chance of signing him if they acquired him now and began the recruiting process while he was part of their club. At worst, they could offer him arbitration and collect two high draft picks if he left as a Type A free agent, helping replace the players they lost in the trade.

As Dustin Parkes at The Score’s Getting Blanked blog points out, the Blue Jays’ inclusion in the Heath Bell sweepstakes likely has to do with the fact that Anthopolous doesn’t speculate on trades to the media, so he hasn’t gone on record to deny the rumours (which means they must be true, right?). Regardless, if the price is right, we’re all for Anthopoulos trying to bolster a shaky bullpen situation with one of the game’s best.

Also, all this talk of closers—not to mention the induction of Roberto Alomar and arguably the greatest GM of all time, Pat Gillick, to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday—has us feeling more than a little nostalgic for the good ol’ days when the Blue Jays rolled out the best bullpen in baseball. Bringing in Bell certainly won’t change that, but then again, what will?

• Blue Jays interested in closer Heath Bell: report [CBC]
• Blue Jays selling relievers—and buying, too [FOX Sports]
• Just say no to Heath Bell [Getting Blanked]

The former home of Ring Audio at Queen and Grant (Image: Signe Langford)

Rumours have been swirling among Riverside dwellers and foodies alike that Lynn Crawford is preparing to jump into the boutique grocery business. The hoarding is up over the glass at the former home of Ring Audio, just a few doors down from her Riverside restaurant, Ruby Watchco. But when we called her, the chef and host of Pitching In was keeping mum on the details—at least, she says, “until I have my ducks all lined up in a row.”

Indeed, Crawford confessed to some confusion over the interest in the place. “I don’t get it. I find it amazing, all this interest in something I’m doing.” We’re certainly not the only ones interested in what she’s up to. In yesterday’s National Post, Shinan Govani let on that he was “tickled and more than a little emboldened” by a recent interview she gave to More magazine, where she hit back at critics of the one-menu-per-night concept at Ruby Watchco. With her restaurant pedigree and her many television appearances, we doubt this is the last time Crawford will be drawing attention. We’ll certainly be watching the storefront.

(Image: Danielle Scott)

Not long ago, it seemed as though brew and gastropubs were on the rise in Toronto, but a couple of recent closures are giving us pause. While My Place’s failure might be attributed to its west end location and size, many are shocked to hear that downtown brew pub Duggan’s Brewery has also shut its doors.

Rumours of the closure started on Tuesday morning, when a lease-termination notice for “non-payment of rent” was found on the pub’s boarded-up front doors. Over on the forum at The Bar Towel, an Ontario craft beer website, news of a possible reopening was mentioned. The Toronto Star’s beer writer Josh Rubin confirmed over Twitter that owner Mike Duggan was hoping to reopen later in the week, and was forced to shut down “because [the] landlord made a mistake.” However, last night sommelier Ben Shillow (Oliver and Bonacini) let the news slip of Duggan’s permanent closure, followed shortly by Duggan’s official announcement this afternoon.

While the loss of the brew pub is sad news for the city’s beer scene, fans of Duggan’s popular No. 9 can rest assured that the award-winning India Pale Ale will still be brewed at Etobicoke’s Cool Brewing Co. and carried at bars, restaurants and the LCBO. One more note of hope comes from Graham Duncan, a sales rep with Duggan’s Brewery, who noted that some “very good news regarding a second beer” will be released in the very near future. Still, it feels like the end of a brief era.

• Duggan’s Brewery Closure Confirmed To Be Permanent [Canadian Beer News]
• Duggan’s Brewery – Downtown Location – Officially Closed [Great Canadian Beer Blog]

Gwyneth Paltrow at this year’s Oscars (Image: WEBN-TV)

Foodies woke up yesterday to the prospect of a pair of big new culinary publications headed by two very familiar names: Gwyneth Paltrow and Ruth Reichl. Paltrow, of course, has her hands in a plethora of pots—from music to blogging to the occasional acting gig—but rumour has it that she may be preparing to delve into the food magazine business, backed by the Hearst Corporation.

Keith Kelly, writing in the New York Post, speculates that Paltrow has been meticulously grooming herself for the position for years:

Gwyneth Paltrow has been remaking herself in recent years as a food expert with strong ties to celebrity chef Mario Batali—and now, according to a reliable source, she is trying to expand her empire outside of the Hollywood realm with a magazine project.

Considering Paltrow’s soon-to-be-released cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, and her recent Spanish food adventure alongside Batali, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine a food magazine as her next venture (she does have a kid named Apple, after all). We were under the impression that the golden era of food glossies had come to a close with the shuttering of Gourmet back in 2009, but Paltrow’s celeb cred might just help her pull it off.

As Paltrow moves to the page, Ruth Reichl, the final editor-in-chief of Gourmet, moves to the screen—the computer screen, that is. According to widespread rumours, Reichl will be heading the Gilt Groupe’s food spinoff, Gilt Taste. Reichl has called the future e-magazine “the food magazine of my dream.” We’re very curious to see how it will all take shape, given Gilt’s two-day flash-sale model. (And waiting three to five business days for our once-fresh cut of sushi-grade salmon? Count us out.) It’s uncharted territory for both Reichl and Paltrow, and we’ll be watching to see how the two food lovers fare.

• Paltrow said to bee cooking up a food magazine [New York Post]
• 10 Reasons Why a Gwyneth Paltrow Food Magazine Might Actually Work [New York Magazine]
• Golden Delicious: Ruth Reichl to Run Gilt Groupe Foodie Site [New York Observer]
• Life After Gourmet is Good: A Chat With Ruth Reichl [Bay Area Bites]

Oakwood Collegiate (Image: TDSB)

Toronto’s Oakwood Collegiate Institute on St. Clair Avenue West may become the first Africentric high school in the city. Just one problem: the Toronto District School Board has so far failed to consult students, teachers and the surrounding committee in its proposal. According to the Toronto Star, students were outraged when they awoke on Saturday to discover their school could house Toronto’s first Africentric high school come September. Parents learned about the proposal in the media and, later, via a letter on the school’s Web site that announced a Tuesday-night public meeting to address the matter, organized after much community and school council dissension.

Co-chair of OCI’s school council, David Battison, a former Oakwood student himself, told the Star, “They’re trying to ram this down our throats without any consultation. Everyone’s devastated. I have not heard one person or student that approves of this.” Students have started a Facebook group and an on-line petition in protest. The petition reads “Oakwood has been a successful MULTICULTURAL school for 100 years, so why change it now? This is a public school and anyone of any race is allowed to attend without any ‘special treatment.’”

At the meeting on Tuesday night, however, trustee Maria Rodrigues hopes to clear up rumours and misunderstandings about the proposed Africentric program. There is, in fact, one other Africentric school in Toronto—an elementary school, Africentric Alternative, which started in 2009. Similar to the proposed high school at Oakwood, Africentric Alternative is a school-within-a-school and students can take classes offered by the host school and vice versa. The TDSB is considering Oakwood as the first Africentric high school partly due to space; Oakwood currently has 730 students and room for approximately 300 more. Since Africentric Alternative already has a wait list for its program, the proposed new secondary school program may need the extra space as well. That is, if the proposal is approved by a committee of trustees on Wednesday.

• Oakwood students blindsided by Africentric school proposal [Toronto Star]

Jack watch: the political class is watching Layton today (Image: Matt Jiggins)

All poli-nerds will be watching Ottawa today at 4 p.m. as the federal government unveils its 2011 budget—and stakes its political future on the hopes that just one of the opposition parties will build up enough nerve to vote with the government. Votes to approve the budget will come later this week, but what’s becoming clear today is that despite Stephen Harper’s massive lead in the polls, he seems willing to give the NDP something they’ve been demanding: restarting the EcoEnergy program that lets homeowners upgrade their windows and insulation with government help. He has also vaguely hinted that there might be a bit of money for seniors (isn’t there always?). It’s almost as if the Conservatives’ oft-stated belief that they don’t want another election was sincere.

According to the Toronto Star, nobody knows if this will be enough for the NDP to vote with a government they’ve just found in contempt of parliament:

Jack Layton told reporters his party will have to examine the budget before deciding whether to support it.

“We’ve laid out what we think needs to be in that budget,” he said. “We’ll see whether or not the government was listening.”

But the NDP leader appears to be setting the bar for approval very high. “We said we want to see very significant help for seniors with the doubling of the Canada Pension Plan and improvement of the GIS very significantly to lift all seniors out of poverty,” he said.

Whatever Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty bring to the podium this afternoon, we’d wager that “lift all seniors out of poverty” isn’t on the agenda, if only because the theme of the day is supposed to be bringing Ottawa’s books in balance.

So, will the NDP support the government or not? What about the BQ? There are rumours yet again that Ottawa is going to throw some money Quebec’s way for tax harmonization. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow after the parties come out of their weekly caucus meetings. But in this dance, the government just needs one partner to keep the music playing.

• Federal budget to meet some opposition demands [Toronto Star]
• All eyes on Layton ahead of budget [Globe and Mail]
• Dan Arnold: Harper offers Layton a 50% solution [National Post]
• Flaherty to offer election-killing olive branch to NDP in the budget [CP24]

Momofuku chef David Chang (Image: David Shankbone)

Last week saw a flurry of excitement over the rumours and then confirmation that David Chang, chef and owner of New York’s Momofuku empire, would be setting up shop here in Toronto. But the e-mail Chang’s PR chief sent out was pretty short on specifics about the two new restaurants. Yesterday, the Toronto Star ran a piece by food editor Jennifer Bain with some additional details, straight from the horse’s mouth. After the jump, six things we learned:

1. We’re getting first dibs
Chang revealed that he’s received numerous requests to expand, but his first choices have been Canada and Australia. While Sydney’s Seiobo is slated for October, the two Toronto projects will open in late summer of 2012.

2. It’s not two restaurants. It’s two restaurants and a bar.
As we reported late last Friday, Chang’s two restaurants will be in a building beside the Shangri-La hotel and condos at University and Adelaide. Expect to find “some type of rendition of Noodle Bar” on the first floor; however, Chang is quick to note that he doesn’t want to “make anything a facsimile, and I think Toronto deserves more than just throwing something there.” On the second floor will be a bar, and on the third, a restaurant called Momofuku Daishō.

3. Daishō is samurai related, sort of
Although daishō is the Japanese term referring to the pair of swords that samurais wear in Japan, Chang picked it for its literal meaning: “Big and small.”

4. Chang was attracted to Toronto because of space.
“In New York, we’re always confined with spaces,” he told Bain. “Our restaurants are difficult to navigate as cooks and to operate. We fight against the buildings we run in New York.” So Chang jumped on the opportunity when Vancouver’s Westbank and Peterson Group, which will manage the Shangri-La, offered Momofuku free reign and generous space. Chang is not sure of the exact square footage or the layouts, but apparently the third floor will be much more spacious than the first. In total, the two restaurants will offer 150 to 160 seats.

5. Momofuku’s pork buns and fried chicken are coming
All those wondering if Momofuku’s famous pork belly buns and fried chicken will appear on Toronto’s menu can relax—they will. However, Chang states that he isn’t interested in simply assimilating Toronto palates to those in New York. Instead, he wants “to be very respectful to the food community that’s already there.” He also showed he knows how to flatter: “You guys already have a sophisticated dining scene.”

6. Susur’s not scared
In the Star piece, Bains went on to interview Susur Lee, who said that he feels no pressure by the potential rivalry, and welcomes Chang’s impending arrival. “I really wish him all the best and hope Toronto makes him a great success. Our city is such a great international city. I think it’s great to make the city bigger.” And tastier, we’d say.

• Momofuku chef reveals details of Toronto expansion [Toronto Star]

Sarah Thomson picks Big Red (Image: Tsar Kasim)

End the rumours, here are the facts: Sarah Thomson, one-time candidate for mayor and then champion for anyone-but-Ford, is running for the Liberals in the October provincial election in the Trinity-Spadina riding. In a move that certainly won’t invite comparisons to Sarah Palin, Thomson announced her plan on her Facebook page (log-in required). Thomson will be going up against longtime NDP MPP Rosario Marchese. The man will not be an easy one to defeat. Thomson’s name recognition from last year’s election may help her, but it’s still going to be a long, tough campaign. The Informer asked Thomson why she decided to run in another election so soon after the municipal one. Her answer, and Marchese’s retort, after the jump.

“I kind of get charged up by it. My husband’s already noticed that my energy level has picked up,” says Thomson. Taking aim at Marchese, Thomson says, “I’m a consensus-builder and a doer. He’s been there for 21 years and he’s done nothing for that riding.” Thomson lists a number of issues in Trinity-Spadina she thinks needs to be pushed forward, including improvements to Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.

For his part, Marchese told The Informer, “Sarah is clearly setting the tone of the election. I don’t have a problem with that—she’ll have to defend the Liberal record, and defend what the Liberals will do if they’re re-elected.” Specifically, Marchese thinks that General Thomson of the subway army will have a hard time defending the Liberal record on cuts to Transit City and diesel-powered trains to the airport.

“We’d heard for some time the Liberals were courting her, so today’s news isn’t a surprise. We also heard the Conservatives were courting her and she was courting them. I’m glad she’s made up her mind,” says Marchese. “It would be foolish on my part not to take her seriously.”

The official race for Trinity-Spadina is only hours old, and we’ve already got accusations of rank opportunism and lethargic gold-bricking. (We’re sure the Tories will run a candidate in Trinity-Spadina, but calls to the sacrificial lamb farm were not immediately returned.) This has officially become a race to watch. Stay tuned.

• Sarah Thomson: Choosing the right party [Facebook]