Dressed in Black?

Article Published Feb 3, 2017. - Updated April 25, 2018. // Source: Globe and Mail

It's not exactly "Free Winona," but hanging in the window of The Shop, a Parkdale custom-T-shirt emporium, is perhaps the first small sign that Conrad Black is making the transition from corporate pariah to urban folk hero.

It's a simple white T-shirt with a message in basic black type:

" I LOVE Conrad Black "

The Shop's manager, Jamie Mays, hung the shirt in the window a couple of weeks ago.

She decided to put it there not because of the latest allegations of corporate malfeasance and lavish personal spending leaking out of Chicago, but because of what she learned reading Tom Bower's recent biography, of the indicted press baron and his wife. Ms. Mays found herself impressed by young Conrad's talent for memorizing historical speeches and repeating them at parties for his father's friends.

"I thought that it was really neat that he has all that information stored in his head," she says.

For Ms. Mays, the shirt's message is sincere, but she understands that it might not be perceived that way. "I sold one," she says, sounding slightly amazed.

"A woman bought it as a gift. She sort of laughed and said the person receiving the shirt may not feel the same way."

But who knows? Maybe she is on to something. Perhaps the next time Mr. Black's character comes under fire from overzealous prosecutors, he should ditch the high-priced legal team, stifle the multisyllabic ripostes, and let Ms. Mays try to win people over, one heartfelt, non-prolix T-shirt at a time.

By Moira Daly / Globe and Mail

"I Heart Conrad Black"

Stuart McLean Story about the " I LOVE Conrad Black T-Shirt " on Vinyl Cafe.

Stuart explains why he has been seen walking around town with an interesting logo on his t-shirt.