 In the early 1990s the plight of the homeless people he passed on his way to and from work in downtown Toronto caught his attention.They later became the inspiration for "Crosstown" (1996, Riverbank Press) a book which is by turns tragic and laugh out loud amusing, a combination which Scrimger maintained through most of his works.While attending a one-week writing program at the Humber College School for Writers, Scrimger wrote a humorous story about a stay-at-home dad going shopping with his kids.