A morning in Hell, Toronto, 1987

Never work with animals or children. ~W.C. Fields

Working with children, through parenthood or by chosen profession, is an ability not equally shared.

My late father, bless his soul, had the gift in abundance. While, as a parent of his day, he did not hesitate to apply stern discipline when called for, he was ultimately liberal with kids. No wonder our house was always a gathering place for youth. He possessed a heart of gold and an impish sense of humour that he used to delight as a professional entertainer.

Balloon diplomacy

He would have been 89, last month.

I did not inherit his disposition in this area — for surely it must be inborn — to any great degree. In my youth, when I did join him on the children’s entertainment circuit, especially lucrative pre-Christmas, I recall having to restrain myself when some 6-year-old tyrant would deliberately burst the balloon sculpture I’d made for him and, pushing other children aside, demand I make another.

Little beasts! … enabled of course by parents who had omitted the element of discipline from their duties.

Though I hit the stage with Dad, played harmonica in blues bands, and later dabbled in film and television, recurrent stage fright convinced me I felt more comfortable behind the camera.

Though it was he who also lit the fuse of fascination for photography in me, this decision saddened my father. He tried for years to coax me back into the limelight. “You could make a lot more money,” he’d cajole, and he was likely right.

Our last gig together was a “Clown Family” reunion in Vancouver, including my brother and sister, joined during a weeklong break from the catalogue sweatshops of Toronto.

Indirectly, I found my stage experience useful in my chosen career, especially when shooting models, entertainers, and kids.

By some mysterious synchronicity, bookers always managed to schedule children’s fashion shoots first thing in the morning, after I’d been out dancing until dawn.

Why, oh why, could they not have assigned an inanimate snow-blower or microwave oven?

At times like that I drew on skills developed at my father’s side while twisting balloons into poodles: Keep calm and put on your clown face.