Gordon Cressy is a walking, talking civics lesson.

He is a crash course in humanity. That grin, that burst of warmth, and he has got you.

I know of no better community builder on the planet. Cressy's work is the connective tissue that makes Toronto - the city that takes top spots globally in livability rankings for diversity, inclusivity, and tolerance - what it is today.

After reading one seemingly impossible story after the other, I had forgotten just how many roads lead to Gordon. Few know just how many lives he has had or the immense behind-the-scenes contributions he has made to the fabric of Canadian society.

Gordon's voice - clear, self-deprecating, ever optimistic - is in every sentence. It is practically an audiobook. I can hear that timbre still in my head as I turn the pages.

While the book unfolds as a fish-out-of-water tale of a kid from North Toronto ending up in the Caribbean and transforming lives, including his own, it is also a story about youth and growing up. It is a story about giving. But it is ultimately the story of the people who made Toronto the community it is today.