Writing

David Hayes owns the copyright to all articles on this page. Reproduction, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the written consent of the creator.

Toronto Life

Who’s the Boss?
February 2008 (Turmoil at Chatelaine, Canada’s most venerable women’s magazine.)

Notes on a Scandal
May 2007 (Jan Wong’s misadventures at The Globe and Mail)

The Prisoner 
April 2006 (The story of a former gang member’s lost years)

Little Kabul
October 2002 (One year after 9/11, Toronto’s 20,000 Afghans face a hard decision: stay here and trade their own futures for their children, or go home to help rebuild their country and risk everything)  Photography by Tobi Asmoucha – Text by David Hayes

Star Crossed
October 2004 (John Honderich’s misadventures at the Toronto Star)

Song Corpse
February 2002 (The rise and fall of Allan Gregg’s record company, Song Corp.)

Black and Whyte and Read All Over
December 1999 (On the first anniversary of the National Post: an evaluation)

The Temple of Tune
April 1999 (An appreciation of Toronto’s Sam the Record Man and its iconic sign)

Daytime Dances
October 1992 (A generation gap in Toronto’s South Asian community)

Wash and Where
May 1991 (Car wash culture in Toronto)

Perfect Places, Imperfect Shots
October 1988 (An essay on shooting pool)

Peter and the Wolf 
March 1988 (With a million-dollar offer from CBS on the table, why Peter Mansbridge stayed in Canada)

Moses Vision
September 1987 (Moses Znaimer and 15th anniversary of CityTV)

Saturday Night

The Making of Michael Bublé
April 2005

Cool Type
April 2003 (An appreciation of my mother’s purple Remington No. 2 portable typewriter)

Riding the Next Wave
January 20, 2001 (After leading the revolution against bebop, jazz pianist Paul Bley has been hiding in plain sight)

The Chosen One
May 1999 (How Rufus Wainwright became pop music’s next big thing)

Lines in the Desert
December 1997 (Agnes Martin is Canada’s most famous unknown painter)

Packaged Wright
June 1995 (Building Michelle Wright’s Nashville image)

SN Cathy Smith PDF
June 1985 (Cathy Smith turned a rock music obsession into a career)

Reader’s Digest

Murder Watch 
March 2014 Former cold case cop Tom Martin won’t stop pursuing Halifax’s unsolved homicides

Back in the Saddle
May 2009 (With a little help, the author put the trauma of a bike accident behind him)

A Real Diner
August 2008 (At The Stem, expect a side-order of nostalgia)

Dancing With Dogs
April 2007 (Canine Musical Freestyle is like a cross between dressage and ballroom dancing)

A Hostage Comes Home
March 2007 (Returning to Canada after 118 days as a captive in Iraq isn’t easy)

The Walrus

The Case of the Pink Dolphin
March 2014 (Trent University’s wildlife DNA lab equips conservationists with new forensic tools)

Sounds of Motown
November 2004 (How, in the 1960s to early ’70s, a Windsor, ON radio station helped define top-40 pop and soul music in North America)

The Guardian

Inside Regent Park
December 8, 2016 (Toronto’s test case for public-private gentrification)

Chatelaine

Abandoned in Canada
October 2009 (Each year, hundreds of frightened children from developing countries arrive alone in Canada)

The Sins of the Mother 
September 2008 (Three women seek justice after a childhood of abuse)

Dream Homes
September 1999 (New Urbanism is supposed to revolutionize the suburbs. Does it?)

Dream Weaver
March 1998 (Why the world’s top figure skaters rely on Sandra Bezic)

Report on Business Magazine

Moses Znaimer’s New Mission
September 2009 (Boomers are Zoomers in ZnaimerWorld)

Finding Love Again
October 2004 (Harlequin writes love in black ink)

So Immature
June 2004 (How marketers ignore the 50-plus generation)

Canadian Wildlife

The Tangled Web
Nov-Dec 2016 (Canada’s Sheldon Jordan is an international wildlife crime fighter. What he’s learned: there are no borders)

Operation Longtooth
Nov-Dec 2015 (The inside story of a Narwhal tusk smuggling operation)

In the Company of Wolves
May-June 2015 (How scientist Linda Rutledge uses DNA tools to save the eastern wolf)

National Post Business

The Boys in the Brand
March 2002 (How Diana Krall’s managers created a global brand)

Die Hard
April 1999 (The making of a commercial)

The Globe and Mail

The Wizard of Ossington 
August 8, 2009 (Michael King has mastered the smoke-and-mirrors of glamour, branding, and buzz)

This Magazine

Attack Signs
May-June 2012 (Postcard from: New York City)

Manufacturing Marshall McLuhan
Sept-October 2011 (On McLuhan’s centenary, how a Canadian reporter introduced the legendary media theorist to the world)

Surprise of the Machines
March-April 2009 (Postcard from: Tokyo)

We’re Not in Dixie Anymore, Bubba
July-August 2004 (What drives NASCAR dads?)

Toro

The Old Heave-Ho
September 2004 (I’m not a lifer when it comes to jobs, so when my boss fired me the shock was how it stung)

Rebuilt for Speed
April 2004 (Some people collect art. These guys race it)

Toronto Star

Program Helps Unaccompanied Minors Navigate Canada’s Refugee Process
August 17, 2013 (A blue-chip Toronto law firm provides child refugees with  pro bono legal aid)

Quebec Chocolatiers Bring Laura Secord, Maker of the Iconic Egg, Back Home 
April 7, 2012 (One in every 26 Canadians eats a Laura Secord Egg at Easter. A glimpse behind the shell)

Education: When Students Face Expulsion From School
December 11, 2011 (How a team of pro bono lawyers help parents of at-risk kids in Ontario’s school system.)

Unforgetable Duet
Gordon Lightfoot jams with Bob Dylan after Rolling Thunder Revue, 1975

The New York Times Magazine

Squaring Off
November 16, 2003 (A 14-year-old competing at an international Rubik’s Cube tournament)

Canadian Airlines Magazine

Heart of Art
November 1999 (Ruth Lechuga’s Mexico City home is the most extraordinary museum in the Americas)

Scrabble and the Mind of Joel Wapnick
March 1999 (How a world-class Scrabble player thinks)

Essays

Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood
October 2020 (Critical Insights)

The Hollywood Reporter: Lillian Ross
September 17, 2018 (Hazlitt)

The Worthy Elephant: On Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
January 27, 2016 (Hazlitt)

My Father’s Secret
What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men, ed. Ian Brown (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2005)

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
January 1996 (Mojo magazine)

Book Reviews (selected)

Volume Control
The National Post, Book Review, December 14, 2019

The Last Stone
The National Post, Book Review, June 25, 2019

Murder By the Book
The National Post
, Book Review, May 19, 2019

Merchants of Truth
The National Post
, Book Review, February 2, 2019

Milk
The National Post
, Book Review, June 2, 2018

The Monk of Mokha
The National Post
, Book Review, February 22, 2018

Draft No. 4
The National Post
, Book Review, October 21, 2017

Open Secret
The National Post
, Book Review, October 17, 2016

Pauper Envy
The National Post, Book Review, October 1, 2016

Gay Talese’s The Voyeur’s Motel
The National Post, Book Review, July 9, 2016

Just the Type
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, December 12, 2015

The Telling Room
The Globe and Mail
, Book Review, July 27, 2013

We like opinions, we really do
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, November 14, 2009

Never a wayward word
The Toronto Star, Book Review, April 26, 2009

Gay Talese Undone
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, May 6, 2006

Different strokes for different folks
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, January 7, 2006

One Murderer, One Journalist, Two Liars
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, June 25, 2005

Bush bashers new and recycled
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, October 30, 2004

A Picture Perfect Rogue’s Gallery
The Globe and Mail, Book Review, September 26, 1992

Toronto Star “Lifelong Renter” Columns (selected)

The extraordinary richness of the renting world“, January 5, 2013

A couple and all their stuff“, July 20, 2012

A love story for a lazy summer day“, July 9, 2012

From the factory floor to funky tabletop“, September 6, 2011

“Everyone here seems to understand each other”, December 3, 2010

Housing Co-op still thriving 30 years later“, November 14, 2009

This garden helps a community flower“, September 5, 2009

Renter-activist has eye on Queen West“, June 14, 2008

The art of coach house lodging“, October 20, 2007

Shameless, driven, mortgage-free“, August 4, 2007

A winning recipe for living well“, October 28, 2006

Everyone has a moving day story“, October 14, 2006

Dog’s life not ruff for Dixie“, June 17, 2006