Todd

About the Book

Todd is a great story that outlines the hardship many children born in the fifties experienced at a time when children where often needed to help around the home or the family business. While there were many good parents who loved their children deeply there were others who only needed help or felt it their duty to provide heirs or just one more set hands to pitch in. Todd is the storey of two such lonely children who found a way to make up for the lack of love and affection in their lives. It is a story of hard work and courage. Heather was only seven years old when Todd was born but she stick handled her way through their childhood in a way that gave hope and purpose to both their lives. No problem was too large to handle and no hardship to much to endure. One only had to keep the end result in mind and know that someday things would be better. With an uncanny ability to hang onto what was good and endure what wasn't, she never gave up. Her plan was almost perfect! This story takes place in rural Ontario and covers four small communities in part. The towns are fictitious but the behaviour is not. The code of conduct embedded!

About the Author

Diane Lloyd was born in Peterborough and moved to the nearby rural community of Lakefield as a child. She has a social work certificate from Renison College through the University of Waterloo. She is best known for serving as chair of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board and is a longtime activist with the Liberal Party. In private life, she has been a real estate agent and is now Broker of Record for HomeLife Preferred Realty Inc., Brokerage, a company she owns. She has also worked as an accounts receivable manager for Westclox Canada. Lloyd criticized the policies of Mike Harris's provincial government in 2000, arguing that health and education were more important than tax cuts. She was first elected to the Kawartha-Pine Ridge school board in the 2000 municipal election, defeating three other candidates in a rural division. In 2001, she joined a minority of councillors in opposing a motion that deferred passage of an operating budget with strict cuts imposed by the Harris government. She was defeated in her first bid to chair the board in late 2002, and was re-elected as a trustee over a strong challenge in 2003. She was first chosen as chair of the school board in December 2004 and has served the past 7 consecutive years in that position She won the Peterborough Liberal Party nomination in May 2005, defeating councillor Henry Clarke. In December of the same year, she stood down as chair of the board. Her candidacy was supported by the Peterborough Professional Fire Fighters Association. During the campaign, she indicated her support for same-sex marriage. On election day, she finished a close second to Conservative Party candidate Dean Del Mastro. She was re-elected as a school trustee in 2006 and served again as chair to the present. Diane has been married to her husband David for 49 years and has three grown daughters and five grandchildren