From Performing Arts To The Written Word

Peter Bird | Aug 28, 2025

Dalia Gesser never envisioned becoming a writer. In fact, she admits that she considered herself “a terrible student” who steered clear of writing whenever she could. Her initial career path led her through the performing arts, touring her own mime/clown/circus skills and mask shows for over 20 years throughout Ontario to schools, libraries, festivals and theatre series. When her time on stage ended, she channelled her performing arts specialties into running theatre programs for elementary schools and seniors through grants from the Ontario Arts Council. During that time, her creative drive found a new direction in writing.

That transformation began at home, as she assisted her sons with their schoolwork and discovered her enjoyment of shaping stories—whether original or borrowed.

After a few published stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul and Conscious Women book series, the turning point arrived when Gesser's husband, Dave Comeau, began recounting his experiences as a taxi driver. Returning home in the early hours with remarkable tales from Kingston’s streets, he unwittingly provided the material that would become her long-term literary project. Gesser began noting down his stories, captivated by their variety and humanity.

Comeau’s journey to driving a taxi was unexpected; after many years of house construction, it led him to a new vantage point on city life. A blend of day and night shifts exposed him to Kingston’s hidden dramas and small acts of kindness, all of which are now chronicled in the book Kingston Taxi Tales—a collection of 127 true stories that reflect the breadth of human experience.

These Taxi Tales do not offer fictionalized accounts; rather, each story is rooted in real events. Through Comeau’s encounters, readers glimpse moments of quiet heroism. There are instances such as delivering a wanted man, inadvertantly, into the arms of the police or a woman who talked to her head of lettuce, while cradling it in her arms as if it was a baby.

One story, ‘Our Little Pony’, describes how a couple tried to convince Dave to take their pony in his taxi van because it would fit. 

Another memorable account, “Happy Meal Justice,” describes the moment Comeau endured a four-year-old-boy, apparently out-of-control while on their way to a movie theatre, and ending up enjoying his Happy Meal because the boy forgot it in the cab—one of many glimpses into the unpredictable and deeply human encounters that fill the pages of Kingston Taxi Tales.

“It’s a slice of life,” Comeau says. “And I think it makes a great gift. People can pick it up and read a few stories at a time — they’re short, but they’re real.”

E-books may be purchased from wmpub.ca. For your printed copy reach out to Dalia Gesser.

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