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Lloyd Mackenzie fonds Series
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Diaries of Lloyd Mackenzie

Series consists of 69 bound journals kept by Mackenzie from 1935 to 2005 (excluding the years of 1942-1943), ephemera and two schoolroom photographs that include Mackenzie. The majority of the diaries consist of accounts of daily events, particularly international wars, revolutions, political events; the activities of celebrities, statesmen and royalty; natural disasters; and cultural and social issues. These entries include minimal personal opinion and are formatted similar to newspaper articles. Events of particular relevance to Mackenzie are often embellished with marginal illustrations and rubrication.

Mackenzie also records more personal notes on his daily activities; his employment history, wages, housing and work environment; his socializing in taverns and cocktail bars; films and plays he attended; his efforts to improve his education; the progress of his various writing projects; the health and activities of himself, family members and friends; his relationships with other gay men; as well as detailed accounts of his travels abroad. He records important events and dates for other individuals, particularly his parents, his sister, and close friends.

Most volumes of the diaries contain a synopsis of the year's events in the final pages of the bound volume. Beginning in the early 1970s, Mackenzie begins to write more reflectively in his diaries and provides his own opinions and insights into the events he records. There are introspective entries on diary writing in the beginning of several volumes of diaries written after 1975, and the entry for March 7, 1972 contains a reflection on his lifestyle choices and his atheism.

There are also reflective and critical entries on Canadian and American politics, homophobia, generational conflicts within the gay community, American foreign policy, Quebec sovereignty and other major social and political events of the late twentieth century.

Non-fiction manuscripts by Lloyd Mackenzie

Series consists of handwritten drafts and typed manuscripts of three works of non-fiction, based on diary entries, written by Mackenzie.
The first manuscript Aussies and Englishmen, a travel memoir, was submitted for publication in 1966. The second manuscript The English Canadian Nation, a historical reflection of the role of English-speakers in Canada from the age of the Vikings to the twentieth century was written and submitted around 1990. The third manuscript Watching the Neighbours Next Door based on extractions from his journals regarding American politics was submitted for publication in August of 1996.

Photo albums and passports

Series consists of twelve photo albums created by Lloyd Mackenzie and seven of his Canadian passports. Photographs document Lloyd Mackenzie's childhood and adolescence in Toronto, as well as some photographs of his parents, family and friends; his military service as a clerk during World War II; his daily life, friendships and living arrangements in Toronto, England and Australia; and his extensive travels within Canada, the United States, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Australia.