Montreal author Ian Halperin is back with a new book called Brangelina: The Untold Story of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whichs delves into the lives lived behind the shiny, glossy image set forth by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

The 2009 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF as it is now called officially, has come to a close and this year the Fairmont Royal York played host to some serious TIFF action. You knew something wonderful was happening here as soon as you walked through the front doors end entered the lobby, a wonderful poster welcoming TIFF participants greeted you. The poster, another touch of brilliance courtesy of the film and TV person here at the Royal York, Kolene Elliott, was a very faithful recreation of the poster for The Wizard of Oz only it wasn’t Oz at the end of the yellow brick road, it was the Royal York. And it just got better from there.

I have often mentioned in this series that life inside the Fairmont Royal York Hotel is a swirling microcosm of activity and life, and the closer you look the more intricate and fascinating that microcosm becomes, uniquely so here at the Royal York as that microcosm of activity reaches from the very sun-splashed rooftops to the convention floor canyons of stainless steel in the kitchens.

A couple of months ago we featured an early interview and profile with Canadian author Ian Halperin about his explosive book Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson. Well, that book has going to be a massive bestseller, and even topped the prestigious New York Times Best-Seller List.

Originally I was going to call this chapter of the series “The Fairmont Royal York Goes To The Movies,” but in essence it really should be called “The Movies Go To The Fairmont Royal York.”

On Tuesday, August 4th the Toronto International Film Festival held the second of its annual summer press conferences in the venerable Imperial Room here at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

In the last week I have been sitting in the mezzanine lounge of the Royal York Hotel, or sitting in Epic restaurant lounge – watching people make their way through the lobby or relax over a cocktail after either a long day in meetings or a long day of sightseeing – just feeling the energy of the place. It got me thinking about the allure of living in a hotel and why it is something that writers and actors and artists and musicians seem to gravitate towards.

There was a lot of hoopla and a lot of praise, and awards, heaped on Al Gore’s global warming film (and companion book) An Inconvenient Truth, but upon close examination that film and book amounts to a lot of fear mongering and junk science when held in comparison to a new film that deals with the immediate and ongoing literal effects of global warming – that far superior film, both visually and in terms of content, is The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning.

I have always felt a magical, almost cosmic connection to the Fairmont Royal York, and for some time I wondered where that feeling came from.

After all, I have been lucky enough to have spent time in some of the finest hotels in North America – from New York to Beverly Hills, from Miami to Maui, but still, when I am asked to name my favourite hotel, The Fairmont Royal York is always the answer I give without a breath of hesitation.

Living in the ever changing, exciting world of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel reminded me that, as familiar with a place you think you may be, it can and does show you constantly that there is more to the place than meets the eye.

Such was confirmed for me recently on a wonderful evening that begin on the roof of the hotel and ended with a splendid dinner with the hours in between being filled with great company, great food, and lots of hotel talk.

In the latest instalment of the great Fairmont Royal York Writer In Residence adventure, Christopher Heard takes a look at life in the hotel this week, and then wanders down the corridors of memory lane for a look back through his career as a writer.