As the bookish only child of divorced parents, both of whom worked in advertising, I spent my days reading Roald Dahl while being shuttled between homes on opposite sides of Toronto.
Mine was a complicated childhood, but I loved the drives. My dad Tony Kosinec, was a folk musician and jingle writer in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s and I loved listening to his catchy jingles on the radio — especially one that’s top-of-mind for many Torontonians right now.
Dad wrote jingles about appliances, milk, Italian food, new musicals, amusement parks, rollerblades … If a new thing came to Toronto, my dad could write a song about it.
Every time Dad picked me up, he was playing a new jingle at top volume on the tape deck to check how it sounded during the afternoon commute. Sometimes, he was really proud