When Dania Loran Lebovics' three kids were born, she noticed that there weren't any really great baby keepsake books. The only ones available didn't include the stuff that moms like her wanted to see.

So armed with her Lotus word processing software, Dania drafted a new baby scrapbook and printed it out. Then a funny thing happened. Her friends asked for copy. Soon strangers were asking for copies. Dania, a chartered accountant, realized there might be a large market for the kind of scrapbook she had created.

Today, the Wagar graduate has sold over 100,000 copies of five books — Kiddy Chronicles, Baby Chronicles, Les chroniques de Bébé, School Year Chronicles and Les chroniques des années d'école. A Spanish-language Baby Chronicles (Cronicas del Bebe) will be published in spring 2004. (Check prices at Amazon or Indigo-Chapters.) 

Dania moved to Toronto in 1989 with her law-school bound husband Danny Lebovics. The plan was to return after a year. They stayed. She says the driving in Toronto isn't as "sophisticated" as in Montreal.

"I have had the burden of having to introduce and teach my fellow Torontonians the Montreal Merge — where you merge at the last possible second and avoid waiting in a long line of cars," says Dania.


Q&A

Do you ever see Wagar alumni in Toronto?
Quite often. A couple of my friends from Wagar and other Wagarites that were either younger or older than me now live around the corner from me. In fact, before my recent house move a couple of months back, one of the boys in my "grad" car (ie, Michael Bohbot, my friend's grad date), moved in next door to me.


You've published five books and sold 100,000 copies. How did you do in English class?
I did well, but I will be the first to say that I am not your classic writer or author. My books are not novels but more like journals/scrapbooks, so my writing is kept to a minimum.


What's your fondest memory of your time at Wagar?
That's a hard one. Too bad I didn't have a High School Chronicles book back then because then I could easily tell you. The times I remember most clearly revolve around Sweet 16 time. All of us girls were having our Sweet 16s, busily hunting for dresses and for hosts (mine was Michael Kreaden). We used to make each other beautiful glasses filled with jello. Different colours of jello were used to design clowns and other beautiful pictures and the top of the glass was covered in melted wax, that was whipped up. I don't know if this counts specifically as a Wagar memory, but it certainly had a lot to do with the social aspect of school.


Favourite teacher?
Now you are really testing my memory. The teacher I remember most fondly is my history teacher, Mr. Iannou. He had a terrific sense of humour and although history was not my strongest subject academically, it was my most interesting and entertaining subject... all because of him.


Favourite subject?
My favourite subject was math, which is probably why I ended up becoming a Chartered Accountant. I also enjoyed gym, even though I was a few flexed-arm-hangs shy of getting the Award of Excellence (which my younger sister Cindy received).


Seen any good movies lately?
Because of my three sons' busy hockey schedule, my husband and I don't get to catch many movies. The last one I tried to see — all 3 kids in tow — was The Butterfly Effect. It was too spooky, so we walked out and saw Winning a Date with Tad Hamilton instead. This was a big thumbs down for my boys. They do not like chick flicks at all. In fact, my kids are following in my footsteps and love horror flicks. So I have rented IT, THE RING, CARRIE, THE EXORCIST, and JAWS all in the last month or so and we are eagerly awaiting the video version of Scary Movie 3.