Mike Filey (1941–2019)
- Toronto Historian • Journalist • Author
- Class of 1959
A Toronto native who grew up near Bathurst and Bloor, Mike Filey discovered his lifelong passion for local history as a student at North Toronto C.I., inspired by his history teacher Hal Brown. After Grade 13, he studied chemical technology at Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson Polytechnic Institute), before beginning his career with the Ontario Water Resources Commission.
Filey soon found his calling in storytelling and public history. He worked in event planning and public relations with the Canadian National Exhibition and later Canada’s Wonderland, but by the 1970s had turned fully to researching and sharing Toronto’s past. His journalism career included writing for the Toronto Telegram and later the Toronto Sun, where his beloved column, The Way We Were, brought lost corners of the city back to life. His first book, A Toronto Album: Glimpses of the City That Was (1970), launched a prolific run of more than two dozen titles. A familiar voice on Zoomer Radio 740, he also appeared regularly on local broadcasts, delighting listeners with vivid tales of “the old Toronto.”
A dedicated NT supporter, Filey advised the North Toronto Foundation on heritage elements during the school’s rebuild, helped with the 75th and 100th anniversaries, and contributed to Hail! North Toronto: Celebrating a Century. Honoured with the Jean Hibbert Memorial Award by the Etobicoke Historical Society in 2009, he is remembered as Toronto’s most passionate champion of its past and as a classic-car lover whose turquoise-and-white 1955 Pontiac forever reminded him of his NT days.