In February of 2007, my friend and mentor, Frank B Kermit, founded the TorontoLair.ca. After spending a fair amount of time with Frank, I know that he did this not because he wanted to run a lair but rather because he felt it was necessary. He looked at the landscape of the seduction community in Toronto and found it devoid of a group that could be called a lair. The groups which existed in Toronto at the time were either involved in commercial interests or simply not actively focusing on learning the skills of pick-up, seduction and relationship management; both these things disqualified them from being a lair. Frank, being from the community before the release of Neil Strauss' The Game, based the TorontoLair.ca on the rules which governed lairs before the community hit the mainstream. Among other things, he based the TorontoLair.ca on the ideas of non-commercialism, camaraderie and integrity. A philosophy that he and I both strongly believe in is that learning pick-up or seduction is not a matter of simply learning skills, but rather, it is a decision for an entirely different way of life.
By the summer of 2007, the TorontoLair.ca had begun holding meetings in the basement of a used bookstore and the quality of its members were already beyond all expectation. It was during that summer that my path crossed with Frank's. I remember my first meeting very clearly. I had expected a group of people on the verge of desperation with women and would likely be very broken in many ways and Frank later told me that the nature of this community is such that it does not attract the best of the society, but the worst. Thus, when I look back, I feel that my expectations were largely justified. What I found, however, was not a group of social misfits, but a group of men who believed in their ability to improve with several of its members having already attained mastery in many elements of seduction. I was shocked, I was thrilled and most of all, I was excited.
The TorontoLair.ca ran for a full year between its founding in February 2007 and its disbanding in March 2008. In that year, the lair had a number of reputable gurus and instructors from the community pass through it - of which I won't list to prevent myself from forgetting to mention someone. The lair was an incredible success with all of its members seeing some level of improvement over the course of its existence and some seeing drastic improvement. Its reputation grew not only on a local level, but on an international level. However, during this time Frank went through several personal hardships.
As a result of these incidents, Frank decided he had to step down as leader of the TorontoLair.ca leaving a gap to be filled. From the moment that this was announced, I knew that this was a position I could fill but I was hesitant. Although I felt the need to preserve the lair, I could not ignore the impact that being a lair leader would have on my life. After much consideration, however, I knew that it was something I simply had to do so I accepted the position with Frank's blessing.
So in April 2008, I assumed leadership of a new lair, TheTorontoLair.ca. Frank's lair was disbanded and the domain name stayed with him, since it was already synonymous with his name. This new lair was created and headed up by me with the help of the moderators from the old lair and with Frank as a consultant; a role which was devoid of any administrative powers. Much of the membership from the old lair migrated to the new one to form the core of TheTorontoLair.ca.
That was how this lair came into being. If it were not for the fact that Toronto was in such dire need of a lair, I personally doubt that I would have ever taken on the role of a lair leader but because the situation forced my hand, a lair leader I have become.
So I dedicate this history to the memory of the TorontoLair.ca. During the time of its existence, it had been proclaimed by more than one guru and instructor to be not only the best lair in Toronto and Canada, but the world. While I cannot objectively say whether or not that is the truth, I can say that those are days I look back on fondly since they were some of the best in my life. My hope is that TheTorontoLair.ca will run and continue to run in a manner that is worthy of being called a lair but above all, it is my hope that its members will grow as PUAs and seducers and find the success that they desire in life.