Everybody knew Richard.A fan of crossword puzzles, writer of poetry, artist, photographer, a fast friend to dogs and then perhaps their owners, Richard spent years living outside along the waterfront particularly the Toronto Music Garden, a green space that stretches between Lower Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street.“To be candid, he was probably a lot more warm towards my dog than he was me,” said Jennifer Evans, who moved to the area about five years ago. She was walking her dog in the park and he was the first person she met. “Everybody knew Richard.”During all four seasons, for at least five years, Richard sought shelter beneath the trees or structures that could fit him and the electric wheelchair he relied on, as both legs had been amputated at his hips.On Monday, Richard was found without vital signs inside the glass enclosed shelter for clients of the Island Yacht Club Ferry steps from the water, at the base of Dan Leckie Way. Toronto Police media relations officer Const. Alex Li, speaking with the Star on Tuesday, confirmed police got the call at about 7:15 a.m. that a man in the shelter appeared to be deceased.Evans found out when she was walking in the park, and posted a Twitter tribute for a man with a bit of a “murky” past who had a difficult life he had told people included the loss of his wife and child.“He lost his legs in one as well. But every day he got up and looked at the sun and did crosswords and wrote poetry,” Evans posted. “You were a cranky poet, and your park and the people in it will miss you.”That story of the loss of his family, coupled with the news of his death and the community he found are what his daughter, who said his name was Kevin Fournier and who hadn’t been in contact with him since about the age of six, is now trying to process. That grief also comes with new connections with family members such as his mother who she first spoke with on Friday. She asked th ...
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