Zanta the Living Legend

by Jason Kieffer

Toronto has a proud history of being home to many a street-corner eccentric, and it appears that cartoonist Jason Kieffer has taken on the task of chronicling them through his cartoons.  Kieffer is best known in the city for his controversial book The Rabble of Downtown Toronto, a field guide to the downtown's homeless, drug addicts, and harmless weirdos.  Now, he's turned his gaze on one of our most storied folk, Zanta.

For people not from the city, Zanta is a muscle-bound man who, from 2003 at least until 2008, would pop up around the city, yelling at people, and performing very theatrical push-ups.  I distinctly remember eating lunch at Maison du Croissant (man I miss that place) watching him block traffic while yelling at cars and doing push-ups in the middle of the intersection at Yonge and Gerard.

Zanta was immediately recognizable - he was always wearing just a pair of shorts, a pair of boots, and a Santa hat, no matter the weather.  He often performed his calisthenics on top of newspaper boxes, or upside down in the subway, while making a hydraulic noise, or wishing everyone a "Merry Christmess".

Kieffer's book consists of a few sections.  It begins with a graphic novel transcription of a long interview Kieffer conducted with the man in 2006.  They discuss Zanta's love for this 'character', and he chronicles his many issues with Toronto Police Services and the Toronto Transit Commission's Constabulary.  As time went by, Zanta became banned from an increasingly large section of the downtown core, and TTC property excluding bus routes.  Much of the interview is made up of Zanta defending his actions.

The second section is more straight-forward transcription of a radio interview Zanta gave while locked up in the Don Jail.  In this part of the book, Zanta seems much more mentally ill than he does in the first; gone is the harmless eccentric, replaced by the ravings of a man who seems pretty deluded.

Later, we check in with Zanta when he is free once again, and see that the constant police harassment has broken the man.  That there is no indication that he ever received any kind of useful support or assistance can be seen as an indictment on our whole city.

Still, Kieffer paints Zanta as the type of person who makes the city exciting and unique.  He suggests that we need these types of characters in our lives, and is sympathetic to the man throughout.  This is a fun read, and a nice reminder of an aspect of our city that I haven't seen in many years, and that I miss.

The Rabble of Downtown Toronto

by Jason Kieffer

Every once in a while, you come across a book or film, with a central concept that you immediately wish you'd been the one to think of, followed closely by wondering why no one else had ever done it before. Jason Kieffer's field guide to Toronto street people is exactly that project. When I saw it advertised on The Beguiling's website, I knew I had to buy it.

The concept of this book is sound. Each double-page spread features a different individual, with a close-up illustration of their face and a map demarkating their usual territory make up the first page, while the second has a full-body illustration, annotated by little arrows pointing out unique features of the individual. Below that are notes as to their behaviour patterns, or history, if it is known.

Upon getting the book, I went through a few different reactions. At first, I thought it was funny in a juvenile, immature sort of way. Then, I started to fear that the book was pretty mean-spirited, pointing fun at the people within it and mocking their sad conditions. As I read through it though, I began to see that Kieffer was allowing his subjects to be somewhat 'in' on the joke, as his affection for them began to show through. I do think that a more responsible editing job should have removed entries like 'Retarded Crackhead', and instead focused the book on the more recognizable eccentrics of the city, like Zanta.

When reading a book like this, it's impossible to not make up your own list of characters you would include. While they are both dead now, I kept hoping to see Ben Kerr (the guy who used to sing on the corner of Yonge and Bloor and who ran for mayor many times) or Crad Kilodney (the author who used to sell his self-published books of short stories)(EDIT: I've just learned that Kilodney is not dead, he's just on the internet). I also expected to see the guy who hangs out in front of the entrance to the parking garage under Nathan Phillips Square with a rat or five hanging out on his shoulders and arms.

The book is by no means complete, and does not add anything of merit to any learned discussion of issues like homelessness, drug addiction, or mental health on the streets of Toronto, but it did make me smile a few times, and sadly may be the only lasting testament to the existence of many of these individuals. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.