Uncle Teddy
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...vid-pecaut-succumbs-to-cancer/article1399555/
Toronto visionary David Pecaut succumbs to cancer
The best mayor Toronto never had leaves behind his wife, Helen Burstyn, and four daughters
David Pecaut, the best mayor Toronto never had, a civic entrepreneur who found his opportunity, his cause, and his legacy in Toronto, died this morning surrounded by family at his home.
Mr. Pecaut, who was 54, had been fighting colorectal cancer. He is survived by his wife Helen Burstyn, four daughters and his extended family. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Born in Sioux City, Iowa on Sept. 14, 1955, he graduated from Harvard College in the United States and the University of Sussex in England. A whiz management consultant – who never took a business course, let alone acquired an MBA – he was a whirlwind mix of civic virtue, entrepreneurial chutzpah and mid-western iconoclasm.
Short, with a beatific smile and a magnetic pull to his wide-eyed gaze, he was an insatiable talker about lofty ideas and grandiose schemes, and a nonpareil convener of the mighty, the needy and the cutting edge.
Mr. Pecaut was “so bold,†said Alan Broadbent, chair of The Maytree Foundation, that he could imagine him making “a cold call to the Pope†and expecting the Pope not only to call back, but to attend a meeting at the end of the week. “That kind of boldness really served everybody well,†said Mr. Broadbent.
Pessimism was not an entry in Mr. Pecaut's lexicon; neither was postpone, or waiting for government to take the lead.
Convinced that Toronto could be a model for the world, he set about forging inclusive working partnerships among the social, economic and cultural sectors, and spawning “do tanks†rather than think tanks. He wanted Toronto to work for everybody: poor as well as rich, immigrants as well as descendants of United Empire Loyalists.
Bringing smart minds together was not an idea that Mr. Pecaut invented. His genius was to take that team approach and use it to bring new and key business players to the table to work pro-bono on seemingly intractable projects: from the Toronto Alliance to rejuvenate tourism in the wake of the SARS in 2003, to the City Summit Alliance, the Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), which has created nearly 3,000 mentorship partnerships and close to 1,000 internships for qualified new arrivals with no Canadian experience, to Luminato, Toronto's wildly successful annual early summer performing arts and culture festival.
“It was fundamental to his being to create, to be positive, to be a catalyst, and then to lead, to make it happen,†said his friend Anne Golden, now head of the Conference Board of Canada. “He was indefatigable,†she said, using a word that encapsulated Mr. Pecaut's energy, vision and determination.
Besides his altruism, which Ms. Golden thinks was central, he was a big thinker who understood that “we are in a new global era,†one in which “connectedness and innovation†are the “routes to sustainable prosperity as a city, a province and a country.â€
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Torontonians will remember Mr. Pecaut for the Luminato Festival, and his leadership at the Toronto City Summit Alliance. They'll recall his love of the arts, his support for youth and for championing tourism in the city, he said.
“David was a man of boundless energy and optimism, who freely gave of himself to improve the city he loved,†Mr. McGuinty said. “For my part, I will remember him for his passion for people, his courage, and his idealism. I will miss his exciting ideas and, above all, his warm friendship.â€
Toronto Mayor David Miller said in a statement that the city will miss Mr. Pecaut's spirit and leadership.
"Like more than half of all Torontonians, David came, saw and fell in love with this great city and chose to stay. One of his numerous talents was that he always found a way to make things happen. It was impossible to say 'no' to him because he would work miracles to find common ground where, at the end of the day, the only answer was 'yes'."
Toronto visionary David Pecaut succumbs to cancer
The best mayor Toronto never had leaves behind his wife, Helen Burstyn, and four daughters
David Pecaut, the best mayor Toronto never had, a civic entrepreneur who found his opportunity, his cause, and his legacy in Toronto, died this morning surrounded by family at his home.
Mr. Pecaut, who was 54, had been fighting colorectal cancer. He is survived by his wife Helen Burstyn, four daughters and his extended family. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Born in Sioux City, Iowa on Sept. 14, 1955, he graduated from Harvard College in the United States and the University of Sussex in England. A whiz management consultant – who never took a business course, let alone acquired an MBA – he was a whirlwind mix of civic virtue, entrepreneurial chutzpah and mid-western iconoclasm.
Short, with a beatific smile and a magnetic pull to his wide-eyed gaze, he was an insatiable talker about lofty ideas and grandiose schemes, and a nonpareil convener of the mighty, the needy and the cutting edge.
Mr. Pecaut was “so bold,†said Alan Broadbent, chair of The Maytree Foundation, that he could imagine him making “a cold call to the Pope†and expecting the Pope not only to call back, but to attend a meeting at the end of the week. “That kind of boldness really served everybody well,†said Mr. Broadbent.
Pessimism was not an entry in Mr. Pecaut's lexicon; neither was postpone, or waiting for government to take the lead.
Convinced that Toronto could be a model for the world, he set about forging inclusive working partnerships among the social, economic and cultural sectors, and spawning “do tanks†rather than think tanks. He wanted Toronto to work for everybody: poor as well as rich, immigrants as well as descendants of United Empire Loyalists.
Bringing smart minds together was not an idea that Mr. Pecaut invented. His genius was to take that team approach and use it to bring new and key business players to the table to work pro-bono on seemingly intractable projects: from the Toronto Alliance to rejuvenate tourism in the wake of the SARS in 2003, to the City Summit Alliance, the Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), which has created nearly 3,000 mentorship partnerships and close to 1,000 internships for qualified new arrivals with no Canadian experience, to Luminato, Toronto's wildly successful annual early summer performing arts and culture festival.
“It was fundamental to his being to create, to be positive, to be a catalyst, and then to lead, to make it happen,†said his friend Anne Golden, now head of the Conference Board of Canada. “He was indefatigable,†she said, using a word that encapsulated Mr. Pecaut's energy, vision and determination.
Besides his altruism, which Ms. Golden thinks was central, he was a big thinker who understood that “we are in a new global era,†one in which “connectedness and innovation†are the “routes to sustainable prosperity as a city, a province and a country.â€
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Torontonians will remember Mr. Pecaut for the Luminato Festival, and his leadership at the Toronto City Summit Alliance. They'll recall his love of the arts, his support for youth and for championing tourism in the city, he said.
“David was a man of boundless energy and optimism, who freely gave of himself to improve the city he loved,†Mr. McGuinty said. “For my part, I will remember him for his passion for people, his courage, and his idealism. I will miss his exciting ideas and, above all, his warm friendship.â€
Toronto Mayor David Miller said in a statement that the city will miss Mr. Pecaut's spirit and leadership.
"Like more than half of all Torontonians, David came, saw and fell in love with this great city and chose to stay. One of his numerous talents was that he always found a way to make things happen. It was impossible to say 'no' to him because he would work miracles to find common ground where, at the end of the day, the only answer was 'yes'."
