In Montreal, I was lucky to have the event in La Sala Rossa, a great music venue some of my musician friends have performed in and raved about, and to be interviewed by the lovely Tamara Kramer, who is the wild mind behind Shtetl Montreal (both the radio show and the magazine). I loved her questions and her energy, and the audience was responsive and fun. I also got to see some of my dear Montreal friends, visit with my brother and his family, hang out with the lovely Saleema Nawaz, and reconnect with an old friend I hadn’t seen in over a decade! I even made a new friend, singer/songwriter Orit Shimoni, who also moved to Canada from Israel a few years ago. We have already collaborated on her project, “Let’s Get Persecuted,” (after her new song by that same name). You can read my story for this project on her site.
In Ottawa I was interviewed by an open-minded and progressive Rabbi Steven Garten who actually liked my book (despite the sex)! Imagine my surprise and delight. I’ve only been to Ottawa once before, many many years ago, for a night of debauchery and partying (and everyone says Ottawa is boring!) I don’t know anyone in Ottawa so it was nice when one of my Twitter buddies, Kaarina Stiff, showed up and introduced herself.
I am grateful to The New Israel Fund of Canada for taking me and my book on this tour, and to Atarah Derrick, who pretty much dreamed up this whole thing, and who was a joy to travel and work with.
The Toronto photos were taken by Mark Tennenhouse. The Montreal photos were taken by Leslie Schachter.
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Next: New York City! The New America Foundation is flying me to the big city for an event on April 1st. I’m thrilled! More details soon.