Lou: The Early Years
I was born on November 11, 1959, (which people celebrate every year by buying me poppies) in Montreal, which I have always said, would be a great city if it weren't part of Quebec. Well, maybe not great, but OK. Many friends who have moved away from it miss it. I do not. Many people have said they would love to move back. I would not. (Not voluntarily, anyway.) Between the language woes, the poverty and the almost-total lack of prospects for advancement in my fields of endeavour, I always felt that Montreal was the Sahara desert of opportunity, especially for an English entertainer such as myself. I visit on occasion to see family and friends, but I would never willingly move back.
I grew up trilingual (English, French, Hebrew), but in recent years have had trouble keeping sentences correct in just English! This does not preclude having had a "decent, Canadian education": Herzliah High School, where I met two of my closest friends (whom I treasure to this day), and dozens of other people as well; Vanier College, where I tied a record by switching programs/majors no fewer than five times, and McGill University, where after a useless year in Management, switched to my first love, English/Theatre. I (should have) graduated (with honours) in 1983, started my own business in 1985, and closed it in 1992, after the death of my fiancée Diane. I re-opened in late '92 until I had a revelation in the spring of 1997. After living in the same apartment (my first one) for 12 years, I moved to the glorious city of Toronto (North York, or more specifically, Willowdale) in June (on election day, actually) where I reside today, paying ridiculously high rents. If you have some time to kill, I will show you where my apartment is. (Watch this space in case I decide to move, but hopefully it will still be in North Toronto----or possibly a bit north OF Toronto, the greatest city in the greatest country in the world.)
Certainly it has been no picnic, living in Canada's most expensive city without a job for five years out of seven, but every so often I appear to be turning the corner. I have landed several good, short-term contract positions, am currently (just barely) making ends meet as of autumn 2005 (thanks to salary cutbacks in two jobs), but am also receiving very positive feedback for my comedy and music, which MAY lead to a CD coming out. Cross your fingers and watch this space!
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