"If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing" - Toller Cranston His best international finish was bronze at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, yet Toller Cranston, with his extreme body shapes and theatrical presentation, singlehandedly transformed men's figure skating from an athletic competition to an art form. He went on to skate professionally, starring in television specials in Canada and the United States, as well as in Broadway shows and at Radio City Music Hall. He made videos with Leonard Cohen and Joni ...
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"If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing" - Toller Cranston His best international finish was bronze at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, yet Toller Cranston, with his extreme body shapes and theatrical presentation, singlehandedly transformed men's figure skating from an athletic competition to an art form. He went on to skate professionally, starring in television specials in Canada and the United States, as well as in Broadway shows and at Radio City Music Hall. He made videos with Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell and was fired from the CBC for being too honest as a figure skating commentator. In middle age, he decamped to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he produced most of his 20,000 paintings that have been shown in more than 300 exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world. On his death in 2015, he was celebrated for his many accomplishments as a skater, and an artist, and an icon in the LGBTQ community. Toller Cranston: Ice, Paint, Passion by Phillippa Cranston Baran, is a one-of-a-kind book that uses biography, interviews, letters, photos, and original artwork to bring to life the accomplishments and influences of one of the most compelling and inspirational people Canada has ever produced.
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New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 290 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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The Victorians had a name for people like Mr. Cranston; they called them Originals. It wasn�t entirely complimentary, because those who reject the imposition of other people�s ideas of what�s appropriate and acceptable are rarely viewed with favor.
Mr. Cranston first burst into public awareness on the ice, shattering the stiffly mechanical criteria for menâ��s figure skating. He brought to the sport a wonderfully free element of dance, gliding through the required forms as if heâ��s not following the music but living in it. The judges werenâ��t impressed, but the audience was. And after their initial shock, judges, too, succumbedâ�"he won multiple championships.
Mr. Cranston was the kind of child who, in our modern era where eccentricity is considered a mental illness, would be diagnosed as ADD/ADHD and dosed with chemicals. The number of injuries he suffered from his ever-present desire to try something to see what happened might prompt a visit from social services. Fortunately for us, that didn�t happen, and the world is better for it.
ââ?¬Å"Being creative,ââ?¬Â? he wrote, ââ?¬Å"and being true to your creative resources is the only thing that makes any sense. The people with the money, all they can do is buy this stuff. We make it. The talent, and the creative luxury of making it, far exceeds any amount of money in any bank. It is the creative people of the world that are the richest.ââ?¬Â?
He wanted everyone to be creative to the extent possible.
It embarrasses me to admit I had no idea who Toller (rhymes with ââ?¬Å"dollarââ?¬Â?) Cranston was until I read his sisterââ?¬â?¢s tribute book. Since I try to educate myself when that happens, I watched some of his performances on YouTube and did a search for his artwork. Now, I wish I could have known him.
As is only to be expected in a book where a lot of different people have contributed their thoughts and memories, there�s a fair amount of repetitive material here, and the decision to move between single and double columns in the layout can be a bit disconcerting. However, if you remember Mr. Cranston, or if you don�t, it�s well worth reading this tribute and making his acquaintance as he was seen through the eyes of others who did.
By the time I�d finished reading, I had a vision of Mr. Cranston comfortably seated in a studio, in the company of those two other Originals Oscar Wilde and Wolfgang Mozart. As he completes the painting he�s working on, he puts on his skates and flies across the ice to a new piece of music by the latter and scripted by the former.
Itââ?¬â?¢s the perfect afterlife for the man who ââ?¬Å"was able to live in two almost entirely different realities each and every day,ââ?¬Â? and ââ?¬Å"Toller Cranston: Ice, Paint, Passionââ?¬Â? is an excellent way to learn what a truly free spirit is like.
