“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.

Philippa Cranston Baran is an award-winning producer, writer, former film professor and dairy goat farmer. She is the older sister of Toller Cranston and has a faded gash on her left thigh from when he once kicked her with his skates for refusing to twirl him.

Phillippa Baran's profile page