SNOW ANGELS

The snow fell and fell and I only thought
Of the dreaded shoveling to be done,
Counted the seconds as flakes piled-up, fought
With myself, asked how long should I wait? One
Two, three, four hours, or more before we’d got
Too much for my unsteady heart - a ton.

While I fretted, from up and down the street
Hooded faces exploded through doorways,
Like rebels from dark forest hideaways;
Kids with their mouths double-bound in scarves, feet
Booted; they lined up along my walkway
Straight as a firing squad, counted to three,

And all at once fell backward, dropped flat, played
Dead: Arms and legs flapped like convulsing geese
Blown clean from the sky (but not quite deceased);
Then they lifted themselves like spirits, gazed
Down at the shadow imprints they had made
Where their departed bodies had once laid.

A Christmas favourite...

The Rent Collector? Apparently. At the Westmount library anyhow. The staff came up with the inspired idea to spruce up the old tree creatively by inviting library patrons to help decorate it with miniatures of their favourite books. As mentioned in this article from The Westmount Examiner my novel is now hanging from an evergreen bough between loops of tinsel. It's deliciously strange to think that a story about a deeply religious orthodox Jew is hanging as a Christmas ornament. But it wouldn't be the first time that the book was chosen as a Christmas holiday favourite (more specifically "Best book to give your Jewish in-law trying to navigate Christmas dinner with the goyim.") Oh holy night!

ZOO by Arleen Solomon Rotchin

I

I'm very excited to announce the publication of ZOO (Shoreline) the debut novel by Arleen Solomon Rotchin who is well-known in Montreal and Palm Beach Florida as the author of a bestselling memoir titled Sam's Will (Shoreline). She's better known around my house as 'Mom' and 'Granny'. In Sam's Will, Arleen told the story of her ten year battle (personal, financial and legal) to settle the estate of her late father, Montreal garment-pioneer Sam Solomon, who was also, not coincidentally, the model of a character in my novel The Rent Collector. Sam's Will made the non-fiction bestseller lists in both Palm Beach and Montreal. Zoo is somewhat of a departure, though not really. It will be enjoyed by the same folks who loved Sam's Will (and there were plenty) because it also tells a story about money, greed, excessiveness and human failing, and does so with the same quirky, funny style and sharp observation that Arleen has become known for. In Zoo, a photographer named Chela tells the uncanny, timely story of her neighbour and friend Geena who's just been convicted of tax fraud and stock manipulation. Meanwhile, as Rome burns Nero plays; Geena throws extravagant parties for her Palm Beach cohort and they behave like the sky isn't falling. Ultimately, Geena can't avoid jailtime and from prison writes letters to Chela declaring that she has had a revelation that she is the victim of The American Dream. During the summer Chela returns to Montreal to teach a group of kids in crisis how to use cameras (the old-fashioned kind with f-stops and shutter speed settings) and the two stories begin to shed light (photography-lingo pun intended) one on the other. Highly recommended.

FAD
by Tamar Black-Rotchin (age 9)

It was popular.
Children everywhere had it.
And later it died.

BULLY

She is a bully.

'Loser' is my new nickname.

I will get her back.

Chip off the old block

HALO

by Tamar Black-Rotchin (age 9)

What a sweet angel

A halo above her head

But then she grew up.

I don't think this is what Pink Floyd meant

by their vacation-titled album Wish You Were Here. If I'm not mistaken, a Pink Floyd themed cruise was one of Nostradamus's signs of the apocalypse. That creaking sound you hear may very well be late Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright turning over in his grave.(Thanks Beth)

He was to football what Babe Ruth was to baseball...

and Bobby Orr was to hockey: He was Benny Friedman. Who? According to a new book Friedman revolutionized the game by passing the pigskin downfield (notwithstanding his orthodox upbringing I guess he wasn't kosher) and saved the fledgling National Football League in the process.