Ben Kerr (1930 – June 17, 2005) was a Canadian author, broadcaster, musician and perennial candidate, who was most famous as one of Toronto, Ontario's quirky street performers. Background Kerr was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and spent fifteen years in the Royal Canadian Air Force before settling in Toronto. In the 1960s, Kerr frequently played guitar in folk clubs in Toronto's Yorkville district working alongside groups such as Steppenwolf, the Mynah Birds, Rick James, Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell, and wrote songs for the then unknown Neil Young. In 1969, he had a life changing experience when he gave up his three pack a day smoking habit and started taking a daily cayenne pepper cocktail. He credited the concoction with turning his health around and saving his life. He later wrote the book "The Cayenne Pepper Does it All" to document this experience. Kerr was considered a "major promoter for Canadian Country Music artists" by the 1970's. In 1971, Kerr wrote "Parliament Hill" for Angus Walker who he was promoting at the time. "Parliament Hill" peaked at number 18 on RPM Country 50 rankings. On June 3rd, 1973, a group of twelve entertainers and promoters met at The Horseshoe Tavern, in Toronto, Ontario at formed the original board of directors for the Canadian Country Music Association. This group included Brent Williams, notable country and bluegrass entertainer, Jury Krytiuk, president of Boot Records, Bod Dalton, a promotor, Sean Eyre, DJ Lindsay, radio personality Harold Moon who worked for BMI Records, Jack Starr of The Horseshoe Tavern, Barry Haugen of RCA Records, Vic Folliott of Brantford Radio, Mary Butterill of CAPAC Publishing and Kerr. Kerr released "Shoes Keep on Walking" in the fall of 1973 and peaked at number 82 on RPM Magazine's ranking of country music songs. For a time, Kerr was an executive at the Toronto Harbour Commission. A fervent anti-smoking crusader, he quit the job in a rage in 1981 when a co-worker blew smoke in his face. He wrote a song, "Fire on One End, a Fool on the Other", about the incident. This inspired him to run from Toronto to Los Angeles to promote a smoking ban in offices. The run took him six months. Also in 1981, Kerr released "Distilled Water", a song that peaked at number 27 on RPM Magazine's top 30 Canadian content list and number 64 on RPM Magazine's Top 75 Country