Oh, Oprah. Daytime television won’t be the same without you. Thank you for your book club, for helping us become better people and for letting us bear witness to a maniacal, couch-jumping Tom Cruise. You’ve been called the most loving woman on the planet by many, inspiring others to return your goodwill many times. To those who are now preparing for many Oprah-less afternoons, here are five Toronto ways to express appreciation for her.
1. Create a Facebook campaign in her honour
Torontonian Tanya Lee created a Facebook group in 2010 to help bring Oprah to our city for a Mother’s Day special. Alas, the plan didn’t work out (we forgive you, O). Another Facebook group was created in 2009 by a group of Canadian university students who planned to walk all the way from the U.S. Consulate in Toronto to Oprah’s show in Chicago in order to bring attention to the suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
2. Break water for her
Toronto’s Lori McCrindle was in the audience of Oprah’s show last year when her water broke thirteen weeks early. Oprah rushed to see McCrindle in the ambulance and even helped her during a contraction. Oprah called it the show’s “first baby,” or rather, "baaaaabyyy!"
3. Premiere her movie
Oprah was the not-to-be-missed star at TIFF back in 2009 when she easily attracted the biggest crowd of the festival. She was in town to promote Precious, a film she executive-produced. The film went on to to win the Cadillac People’s Choice Award, naturally.
4. Get pat down
Retired CBC journalist and U of T senior fellow Brian Stewart didn’t know what he was getting into when he appeared on her show back in 2005. He was astounded with the studio’s high level of security and apparently experienced one of the “most intense electronic screening and pat-downs” in his life. For his part, Stewart said he was naïve about Oprah’s stature, but later called her “sincere” and “empathetic.” So obviously it was worth it.
5. Beat yourself up over her
A Hamilton man (not quite Toronto, but close enough) literally beat himself up over Oprah, cutting his forehead with a rock and scraping his hands on the sidewalk. It was all part of a ruse to convince the police (and his wife) that he was robbed of his tickets to Oprah’s final show, a much easier alternative, apparently, than admitting to his wife that they had gone to Chicago without any tickets at all.