Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and Mark Towhey, his chief of staff, are shown at a city council debate on July 11, 2012.PETER POWER/The Globe and Mail
A former top aide to Rob Ford has written an "unparalleled tell-all" book about his time with the Toronto Mayor that will be published less than a week before the municipal election.
Mark Towhey, who Mr. Ford fired as his chief of staff after he told the mayor to get help for substance abuse, provides an "insider account" of working for the controversial chief magistrate, according to a description on the website of the book's New York-based publisher.
"This is a must-read for Canadians voting in the mayoral election, as well as fans of Ford – and his antics – all over the world," Skyhorse Publishing says.
The book, titled Mayor Rob Ford: Uncontrollable and subtitled How I Tried to Help the World's Most Notorious Mayor, is to be published on Oct. 21 – six days before the municipal vote in which Mr. Ford is running for re-election – according to Skyhorse.
The book was co-written by journalist Johanna Schneller.
"Towhey gives an insider account of working with Ford, covering for him, managing a man who people see as a joke, who trips over himself in videos; who throws candy at children instead of handing it to them; who rants and raves, and gets belligerent in meetings and at private events," the publicity materials say.
Skyhorse says Mr. Towhey, who referred all questions to his publisher, "bears no ill will toward the mayor. This is not the account of a man eager to get revenge. It's simply an up-close look at the mayor – and what goes on behind the scenes."
Mr. Towhey, a former member of the Canadian military, was fired a week after news of the alleged crack video surfaced in May, 2013.
With a report from Elizabeth Church
Jill Mahoney