Ed is dead.

Ed Mirvish was a hero to Toronto, a mover and shaker and builder of the city, but also a man who loved its people, especially the newest citizens, its immigrants who helped make it great. His life's story and achievements have already been extensively catalogued elsewhere, but I'd like to talk a little about his best-known achievement, Honest Ed's Bargainhouse.

At Honest Ed's, you could get just about anything. Clothing, light bulbs, candy, tablecloths, electric fans, you name it, he had it. You knew when you walked in the door that you were about to have a no-frills shopping experience. You knew going in that there was a no ifs ands or buts No Refund policy, which was no doubt part of what kept the prices so low. Most things could be purchased for garage sale prices. Unlike Sam's, which recently shut its doors for good, I can recall the first time I set foot inside Ed's. I was 11 or 12, and going to school across Bathurst Street - it is now a girl's high school. Trust me when I say that it wasn't back then - and after school went in through the side entrance on Bathurst, which was later moved to the Bloor Street side. You walked up a long slanted walkway, and either side was the record section - he had as many vinyl albums as, well not Sam's, but definitely more than they had at Eaton's. I think that the first record I bought there for myself was Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms, which no doubt is still kicking around at my folks' place.

My first apartment was 2 blocks south of Ed's, and anything that wasn't parental surplus came from places like Ed's - the neighborhood also featured then a Bi-Way, which was more like a giant dollar store, although you could get remaindered Levi's there for $20. But Ed's was responsible for blankets, T-shirts, glasses, can openers, Christmas lights (at $2 a string, even if they didn't work you didn't really mind) and a still have at least one tie I got there - it too was probably less than $3. With its kitchy hand -lettered signs that advertised everything as a potential "Ed's Gift Idea" - one Christmas someone had set up a window display with a pyramid made of boxes of tampons with such a sign, leading me to imagine some twisted version of Gift Of the Magi, well, anyway... Ed's was an institution, and still is today.

His death last week at the young age of 92 notwitstanding, I believe that, unlike Sam's, the store will go on, as will the rest of the Mirvish empire, including the theatres - I suppose we have them to blame for the Lord of the Rings musical last year. But I have no doubt that this Christmas, David Mirvish will still be there, as Ed was for many years before, handing out free turkeys. And it will still be possible to get a DVD player, a bust of Elvis and a jumbo pack of diapers all for under $35 for years to come. Ed's idea was to let a young family, new Canadians, or whoever needed it, get the help necessary to get on their feet in the first place. I think he firmly believed that given the chance anyone could work their way up to be who he was, a man loved by his city and his customers alike. The past week there have been a lot of photos of Ed Mirvish in the paper, and you'll notice that in everyone he is beaming, and I think that is perhaps how he will be best remembered, for his infectious smile. Ed is dead - long live Ed Mirvish.

And, no, it would not be appropriate to post that song by the Pixies.