Dusty Cohl, an eccentric lawyer in a battered cowboy hat, made his hometown of Toronto a better place in which to live. He helped Toronto to grow up. He helped it morph from Hogtown to the culturally rich city it has become.

That is the big picture.

On a personal, intimate level, he helped countless people -- rich and poor -- to get things done, and feel good about themselves doing it. He was the fixer, the inspiration, the catalyst.

Dusty died yesterday at age 78, claimed by cancer.

Although the general public could not possibility realize it -- which suited him just fine, because he always deflected credit to others -- Dusty leaves behind an extraordinary legacy.

That includes the Toronto International Film Festival, which he was instrumental in co-founding in 1976 under its original cheeky name, the Festival of Festivals. It is now ranked No. 2 in the world behind only the fabled Cannes Film Festival.

It was at Cannes where Dusty first got the notion for the festival, and where he was inspired by his American friend, Jerry Rappoport, to put the idea into action. Dusty and his wife, Joan, stumbled across Cannes originally on a European holiday in the 1960s and started attending regularly, with Dusty setting up shop on the terrace of the Carlton Hotel.

"No Dusty, no Toronto film festival, no Canadian film industry," fest co-founder Bill Marshall said yesterday. "Dusty Cohl was the first guy who 'got' the concept of a film festival in Toronto."

It was Marshall and his then filmmaking partner, Henk van der Kolk, who formed the co-founding troika with Dusty. It is hard to believe now, but a Toronto film festival was a tough sell in the 1970s. The city was a cultural backwater. Citizens went to Buffalo for a good time.

But Dusty's legendary networking skills -- he seemed to know everybody, or knew somebody else who could get him in contact with anybody -- helped the festival establish itself in the early years.

He courted businessmen and politicians who could help the festival financially and technically; he courted media, such as major U.S. critics Roger Ebert, William Wolf and Charles Champlin, to plant the Toronto flag in Hollywood; and he courted Toronto media, such as then Toronto Sun entertainment editor George Anthony, to make sure the early festivals were treated as events on the home front.

The Dusty touch was applied later in the founding of Canada's Walk of Fame.

"He is a local treasure and he will be dearly missed," says Walk of Fame director Peter Soumalias. "He was an integral part of the founding of the Walk of Fame (with Soumalias and Bill Ballard). He was the one who always had the bigger vision for us."

Cohl helped filmmakers. Outrageous!, a 1977 Canadian classic, owes its existence to Dusty. And he and Joan made sure The Circle Game got made in 1994. He enabled others, without credit.

Dusty launched a second, more intimate film festival event, The Floating Film Festival. Now run by one of Dusty's best friends, filmmaker and marketing whiz Barry Avrich, the 10th "Floater" sets sails again in February, just four days after what would have been Dusty's 79th birthday.

Behind the scenes, Dusty mentored his nephew, Michael Cohl, and his partner, Bill Ballard, and those two launched the foremost rock-concert promotion business in Canada and, eventually for Michael Cohl, the world, with the Rolling Stones and U2 in his touring stable.

In 1986, Dusty was part of a group which included basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, that tried to get an NBA franchise for Toronto. They failed, but the seeds were planted for the Raptors.

Behind the scenes, Dusty networked with a remarkable number of people to offer guidance, good advice and a shot of his favourite libation -- a glass of Crown Royal. If you wanted to share a Cuban cigar, so much the better. As he did at Cannes, Dusty worked out of unusual Toronto locales -- soup kitchens, bistros, diners and, for years, the Dirty Bagel. He brought "mystery guests" to breakfasts and lunches to ensure people met each other and bonded.

Dozens visited him in recent weeks after he was confined to hospital with cancer. To the end he networked, got things done, solved problems and introduced people.