lawrence o'toole is a canadian former journalist, best known as a film, dance and theatre critic for "the globe and mail" and "maclean's" in the 1970s and 1980s. after moving to new york city in 1988, he was a contributor to "time", "entertainment weekly", "gq" and "the new york times", and volunteered for an aids service organization. in 1994, he published "heart's longing: newfoundland, new york and the distance home", a memoir of his experience growing up in newfoundland and labrador, coming out as gay as an adult, and later returning to his hometown of renews for a visit. the book was an expansion of an article he had previously written for "saturday night".