Event: Fundraiser for Toronto writer Derek McCormack

April 04, 2012 Editor Event event

Re-posted with permission from the fundraiser's organizers

Please join us on Tuesday, April 10, for an evening of music and merriment to raise funds for Derek McCormack. Featuring performances by:

Howard Akler April Dick (feat. Tony Burgess and Chuck Baker) Matthew Barber Jason Collett Joey Comeau Claudia Dey The Cast of Haunted Hillbilly Sheila Heti Doug Paisley Joe Pernice

Hosted by Adam Sternbergh. With a prize raffle featuring awesome prizes from The Beguiling, Coach House Books, ECW Books, Merlot House, Noor, Sam James Coffee, Taddle Creek, The Walrus, and much more!

Where: The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. (at Ossington) When: Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 to midnight How much: PWYC, suggested donation $10

Why Are We Raising Money for Derek?

Our dear friend Derek became seriously ill last fall with a very rare cancer of the appendix. Fortunately, it's treatable, but the treatment itself is extraordinarily arduous: an 18-hour surgery from which he will be recovering for six months to a year. (But which could, fingers and toes crossed, put the cancer in remission for a very long time.) He'll be in hospital for about a month afterward and then recovering with friends and family for several months after that. He'll be unable to work at all, and there's still the possibility of complications that could prolong his recovery even further. And, as you know, Derek's a writer and bookseller; he doesn't make, or have, a lot of money.

In order to help him along, and to cover his trip to New York (where he went for a second opinion at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), his living expenses during his recovery, and possibly even a bit of a cushion for any unforeseeable complications, we're holding this fundraiser as well as an online art sale, Art for Derek. If you can support either event we would be most appreciative. You can also donate directly to Derek on the Art for Derek website: www.artforderek.com. For more information about the art sale or Cormarama, please contact us at: friends@artforderek.com.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on the 10th!

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