Jane Jacobs (1916-2006)

Jane Jacobs, the great urbanist and social activist, has died at the age of 89. She lived not too far from me in the lovely Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, and this great city owes much to her generous influence. So do cities worldwide. I don't agree with everything she had to say on every topic she explored, notably Quebecois separatism, but she was truly one of our greatest and most humane advocates for a fuller, richer existence amid the din of modern life. She will be missed.

See nice pieces on her life and writings in The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. See also The New York Times.