Continued from Part II I met Anna L. at the same time as I was working in partnership with Anna S. Both were Jewish Russians and both seeking financing to start their own business. Anna L. had none of the intelligence nor glamour of her counterpart. She was the...

Continued from Part I It was the start of my nightmare. "How do you expect me to come up with $300,000 in a month? I asked aghast. "Oh, you will," she smiled, full of confidence. The lady wasn't a loan shark demanding payment from a delinquent mark. She was a...

What are the chances of being swept into two separate businesses at the same time with two Jewish Russians, both named Anna? Thank goodness their surnames differed. It was an experience from hell. According to George Bernard Shaw, “ Youth is wasted on the young.” At...

“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyesThere beneath the blue suburban skiesI sit and meanwhile back….. (trumpet fanfare)”The Beatles, 1967. On the 28th of April 1980, I emigrated to Calgary, Canada from England. It took six months to build a credit rating good...

My favourite corners of the world to hide in are musty, dust-ridden, second-hand bookshops. Within them, I have found many gems, if not diamonds, in the rough. One particular book comes to mind. It's a collection of ancient Sufi parables by Idries Shah, all spruced up...

Does anyone remember the 1952 musical Singing in the Rain or is it only me? The part I remember the most is NOT the solo Gene Kelly throwing away his umbrella in the middle of a downpour, then jumping into puddles, dancing with joy, but later in the movie with his...

At our kids’ graduations, they showed off their yearbooks, autographed both by teachers and classmates. “Where’s yours, Pops?” they asked me.  “In my days, we never had one, let alone a graduation ceremony,” I said. “How about you, Mum?” the kids asked Laura. She shed...

At our kids’ graduations, they showed off their yearbooks, autographed both by teachers and classmates. “Where’s yours, Pops?” they asked me. “In my days, we never had one, let alone a graduation ceremony,” I said. “How about you, Mum?” the kids asked Laura. She shed...

Delta West Academy took charge of our two boys from Grades 1 to 12. In their early years, the boys' greatest joy was the end of each school day when they could romp on the jungle gym and playground outside. There, they were joined by fellow students, whose mothers...

Continued from Part I For a full day we had been isolated on a oversized tugboat ferrying us from Cyprus to Egypt. All we could do was plod around the deck taking pictures of the sea. Finally, our boat anchored in the harbour of Alexandria. At last, we were free. A...