Event photos: unveiling the Al Purdy statue
The long-planned statue of poet Al Purdy was unveiled in Queen’s Park in Toronto yesterday with much brouhaha and clicking of cameras. The statue is the brainchild of Scott Griffin, who enlisted the help of Dennis Lee, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Sam Solecki. It was sculpted by husband-and-wife team Edwin and Veronica Dam de Nogales.
Toronto mayor David Miller addresses the crowd prior to the unveiling.
Miller with Purdy’s widow, Eurithe. Behind Miller to the right is Toronto poet laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, who emceed the event.
Al Purdy was such a maverick, he wouldn’t even dress up for his own statue.
[…] May 20, 2008, the unveiling of Canada’s first statue of one of its own poets took place at Queen’s Park, […]