Experience the magic of Leacock’s Mariposa via a walking tour of Orillia.

In 1912 Stephen Leacock began the serialized publication of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Within the pages of the stories he immortalized Orillia, Ontario, and its citizens. One hundred years later Orillia, "The Sunshine City," still answers to the name Mariposa. The impact and legacy of Leacock’s work continues to inspire and define the Orillia of today.

Visitors come to Orillia from far and wide, not only to see Leacock’s summer home, now a National Historic Site, but also to seek a Leacockian experience, for it is here that Leacock called "home", including himself among the characters of Sunshine Sketches.

This walking tour guide of Stephen Leacock’s Mariposa invites you to explore the history, people, and places through the eyes of Leacock and experience the magic that is Mariposa.

Daphne Mainprize is the curator emeritus of the Stephen Leacock Museum, a National Historic Site in Orillia, Ontario. She is the co-author of The Stephen Leacock Picture Book with James A. “Pete? McGarvey. Daphne lives in Orillia, Ontario.

Daphne Mainprize's profile page

James A. "Pete" McGarvey has spent close to half a century in Ontario radio. In the 1970s and 1980s he was a popular commentator on Toronto's CKEY. When in 1957 McGarvey was named Orillia's "Citizen of the Year" for his efforts to preserve The Old Brewery Bay, the Orillia Packet and Times wrote, "[He] patiently persevered in the long and difficult negotiations with a host of lawyers, owners, potential owners, advisers and hangers-on ...The lion's share of the credit must go to Pete McGarvey."

James A. "Pete" McGarvey's profile page

Carl Spadoni is the former director of the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at the McMaster University Library.

Carl Spadoni's profile page

Daphne Mainprize, former curator or the Stephen Leacock Museum, is eminently qualified to direct readers on this walking tour that commemorates 'Mariposa's' hundredth birthday... essential reading for those already acquainted with the town... and with Leacock's Sunshine Sketches, but just as much for those who need somewhere to start.