AnthonyWallace

picMay, 1980

Anthony Wallace

I lived in Halifax in 1976, and again in 1978 to 1980. I volunteered at The Turret and worked as a dishwasher at Fat Frank's Dining Room on Spring Garden Road. Later, I was happily employed at the Halifax City Regional Library and County Library in Armdale as a graphics artist and part time puppeteer. Since 1986, I have lived in Fredericton, but I often think of the part of my life spent in Halifax.

At The Turret I cleaned off the tables, and for a time worked there, cleaning on weekends with RobertRamsay. Had a great time dancing there, and at TheeKlub, in the fall of 1976.

About this photo: Wearing retro Salvation Army thrift bargains shirt and jacket, May, 1980. Photo by Sunset Studio, a complementary sitting for permitting a flustered and nervous salesman to demonstrate a Filter Queen vacuum cleaner in the walk up flat I shared with RobinMetcalfe on Lawrence Street. The poor man could hardly wait to get the demo over with and get the hell out of there.

Robin was a roommate for a while, and the FurryFrolics comic strip in the MakingWaves quarterly was mine. Furry Frolics was about Ted and Fred, two bears who met by chance one night at a Bears' Bar, won the dance contest and fell in love. Their friends couldn't figure out what Ted and Fred saw in each other, but they just accepted their own differences and were happy. In a following strip, they went to a Bears' Conference and participated in workshops and went to a rockin' house party.

I often wonder where everyone is, the people I knew then.


RobinMetcalfe writes: "Anthony was my roommate for a while. He kept making teddy bears. I fell in love with the first two he made - or they fell in love with each other. I traded a blender for one of them. They became Ted and Fred, and Anthony (who was also a cartoonist) created The Adventures of Ted and Fred for MakingWaves.