in the 1960s and 1970s, producing several celebrated works. Best known for his film Walking composed of animated vignettes of people walking, Larkin was considered one of the best animators of his generation. In 1969, the Montreal Gazette referred to him as the "Frank Zappa or George Harrison of animation". In the 1970s, unable to cope with his success and the pressure to develop more works, and facing a creative block, he became addicted to alcohol and cocaine. By 1978, he was broke and no longer working for the NFB. He worked as a commercial animator and painter for the next ten years, but by the late 1980s he was living on the streets of Montreal. He continued to draw and sculpt. Chris Robinson first learned of Larkin in 2000 after his name was mentioned in a discussion by staff member Lesya Fesiak, who had heard about Larkin panhandling in Montreal from a friend. Fesiak and Robinson, who is the director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, drove to Montreal to meet Larkin in June 2000, where they found him panhandling near Schwartz's on Saint Laurent Boulevard. At the time, he resided at the Old Brewery Mission and spent his days "wandering around town" visiting art galleries, museums, and libraries. He always had a notepad with him for drawing. They offered him dinner at a nearby bar, where he recounted his life story, which Robinson found "comical and heartbreaking, pathetic and inspiring". Before leaving, Robinson invited Larkin to Ottawa to watch a few entries for that year's film festival. Landreth met Larkin at the suggestion of Robinson. Landreth had been taking part in the festival's selection committee when a fourth member of the committee dropped out. Robinson asked Larkin to take the missing committee member's place, and personally drove him to Ottawa in July 2000. Committee members Landreth, Pjotr Sapegin, and Andrei Svislotksi, in addition to Larkin, reviewed the commissioned films competition entries. Nobody on the selection committee knew of Larkin's identity at the time, and Landreth found his presence on the committee to be odd. Committee members were only told about Larkin's identity at the end of the viewings, when they screened each other's films. Larkin was last, showing Walking, Street Musique, and Syrinx. Landreth later described his surprise, and stated "I looked at him and wondered, how did this happen?" Landreth, at the time employed by Alias, was