Gordon Stewart Anderson (1958 – July 8, 1991) was a Canadian writer, whose novel ''The Toronto You Are Leaving'' was published by his mother 15 years after his death. Anderson was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, raised in

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

and lived for many years in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He graduated from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. A

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man, Anderson died of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related causes. He is remembered on the Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt. A number of years after his death, his mother Marlene Lloyd discovered that a small publishing house had an unpublished manuscript for ''The Toronto You Are Leaving'', a novel Anderson had written about life in Toronto's gay community in the late 1970s. She submitted the manuscript to several other publishers without success, and eventually edited and self-published the novel herself in 2006. The novel garnered a strong review in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', as well as significant attention in Canada's gay press. Marlene Lloyd had also previously published a book of her own, ''Not a Total Waste: The True Story of a Mother, Her Son and AIDS'', about Anderson's death. She subsequently pitched a screenplay adaptation of Anderson's novel, although the film was never produced."Queer as Folk meets Fame, but without the dancing". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', November 22, 2007.

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Untroubled Heart, publisher of ''The Toronto You Are Leaving''
1958 births 1991 deaths Canadian male novelists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian gay writers People from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Novelists from Toronto AIDS-related deaths in Canada Canadian LGBTQ novelists University of Waterloo alumni University of Western Ontario alumni 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Gay novelists {{Canada-novelist-stub

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