Lifestyle
Toronto Star's astrologer Phil Booth scion of Sudbury restaurant family
Stargazer
VICKI GILHULA
Spring 2009 |
Growing up in Sudbury, Phil Booth considered a career as a lawyer, but a different fate was written in the stars. Since 2003, he was been writing the extremely popular daily horoscopes for Canada’s largest circulation daily, The Toronto Star, and more recently he began writing career horoscopes for Monster.com. He has thousands, maybe millions, of readers every day. After moving to the Greek Island of Santorini for an extended holiday and to study Greek mythology, Booth returned to Sudbury for a short time. He contacted the lifestyle editor at The Toronto Star about writing horoscopes. He was at the right place, right time. The editor was looking for a Canadian to write a horoscope column. (The most famous was American Sydney Omarr whose syndicated column ran in the Star from 1963 to 1987.)
Booth, a popular guy at Sudbury High who played sports, studied piano and was student council president, was born in 1952. The youngest of four children is an Aquarian. His Greek-Canadian grandfather Peter Boundounis (later Booth) and his father “Jimmy” served good food to thousands of Sudbury residents over the years at Booth’s Tea Room and later Booth’s Grill. His siblings ran the restaurant at the Peter Piper Inn.
Although his father and mother, Margarita, are both dead, Booth still visits Sudbury where his brothers, Peter and Charles, and sister, Katie, live. “They are like parents to me and give me lots of love,” he says.
He has fond memories of growing up in the city including eating grilled cheese sandwiches after school at his father’s restaurant, his teachers at Prince Charles Public School, and organizing a student walkout at Sudbury High.
Booth enjoyed acting and public speaking in high school. He laughs as he remembers winning a trip to New York City and the United Nations in 1968. He precociously asked the Soviet ambassador about his country’s relationship with Czechoslovakia. The encounter took place days before the Soviets invaded the country.
Booth was (and still is) interested in politics and headed to York University to study political science.
Those were the days, my friend, of the Love Generation who were looking for the true meaning of life and hoping to “find themselves.”
Booth joined the searchers. He headed west to British Columbia and later worked with Mexican grape farmers in California before hitch-hiking back across Canada and travelling to Europe.
Along the way, he paid for his expenses by playing piano and the recorder. The pampered baby of the family, by his own admission, soon got a lesson in life and survival.
By the 1980s, Booth had settled down to raise a family in a seaside town in southern England.
He and his wife ran a tourist gift shop. They have a daughter. (He missed the Sudbury High reunion last August because he was attending her graduation.)
A series of breaks, and perhaps some interference from the stars, put Booth on his current path.
In an interview with The Toronto Star, he explained how his marriage ended and he got out of the tourism business. In 1994 he broke his Achilles tendon playing tennis. This event happened at the same time Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet broke up and slammed into Jupiter. He got hooked on astrology while he waited for his tendon to heal.
This led to studies at the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London and a new career as an astrologer. He maintained horoscope hotlines for two British newspapers, The Mail and The Mirror. He was the resident astrologer for BBC Radio South, and was “Pharaoh Phil”on a Channel 4 reality show called Eden.
The editor wanted a horoscope column that was witty, insightful and unique. Booth delivered.
Booth also makes guest appearances on TV where he gives astrological insights into the world of celebrities, politics and sports. He is also often asked to give private readings, and people from all over the world contact him through his website.
In addition to the entertainment value of reading one’s daily horoscope, astrology can help people understand human behaviour and find purpose in their lives, says Booth.
Life events can be plotted on an individual’s chart and the alignment of the planets can explain why things happened. People can learn to have a positive rather than negative reaction to alignments.
Astrology gives meaning to life and a sense of purpose, he says.
Readers can learn more about Booth and astrology at www.boothstars.com
