This week commemorates the tenth anniversary of the death of famous Canadian athlete and artist Toller Cranston.
Sister Phillippa Cranston-Baran has made it her work over the decade to preserve and enhance her late brother’s legacy.
About this time a year ago, Phillippa was engaged in a number of launches for her tome, Toller Cranston: Ice, Paint and Passion.
Of the four book launches involved and the myriad stops on a cross-country tour that also included Lake Placid New York, the local spring-board remains her favourite.
The format of Toller Cranston Ice, Paint and Passion is a cross between oral history recollections and coffee-table quality photography, and has won Phillippa numerous accolades in the year since its release.
Cranston-Baran doesn’t have hard figures on the book’s sales- but it has continued to generate buzz within the communities it touches.
Going forward, Phillippa plans not a sequel, but a new work focusing on her brother’s art, some of which commands prices as high as 70 thousand dollars a piece- but first, she’s compiling an archive and catalogue.
Being an Olympian in life, Toller Cranston will have a presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Phillippa returns the conversation to her forthcoming tome on Toller’s art.
While it is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, certain of her efforts will shelter her brother’s legacy from forgery.
Which, experts suggest, is over 20 thousand paintings and drawings.
Should you like further details on the Toller Cranston projects that Phillippa has outlined, here’s how to get in touch:
Phillippa Cranston-Baran dot com.
By Rick Stow
