Leo, a Life

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Over many years, Leo Kolber spent a good deal of time sharing meals with
the likes of Charles Bronfman, Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Pierre
Trudeau, Brian Mulroney—and Ian MacDonald. While a bit of a time freak
in his real life, Kolber seems to have treated meal-time as an occasion
to kick back and reminisce. On more than one occasion, he was encouraged
to write a book, and after his retirement from the Canadian Senate, he
sat down with Ian MacDonald, an experienced hand in these matters, and
produced this wonderful book, which is largely based on his dairies and
on interviews with MacDonald.

The title sets the tone. At first blush, an autobiography published by
a university press by a fabulously wealthy “consigliere” to the
Bronfman’s, bag-man for the federal Liberal party, champion of Jewish
causes, and former chair of the Senate Banking Committee might dissuade
the average reader. But “Leo”—that’s informal, inviting, and
entirely appropriate. And hey, look at all the family photos.

Leo is also not a traditional autobiography in the sense that one year
leads into the next. To be sure, this is true of the first chapter, but
once Kolber started working for the Bronfmans, the tales are spun out
thematically, 16 chapters in all, focusing variously on Sam Bronfman,
Charles, (his son and Leo’s closest friend), Charles’s three
siblings, Kolber’s work as a real-estate developer, his family, his
travels with Trudeau, and his friendships with other politicians and
Hollywood types. In these chapters, he is both fun and frank. On more
than one occasion, he bitterly describes Edgar Bronfman Jr.—the man
who brought the Bronfman dynasty down—as both uneducated and stupid.
Toward the end of his tale, Kolber gets serious with chapters on
anti-Semitism in Canada, his relationship to Israel, management and
leadership in business, and his work on the Senate Banking Committee.

One of the byproducts of the structure Kolber has imposed on his
material is some unnecessary overlap. Further, on occasion, he relies
not on personal observation but on other sources for some of his
anecdotes. Leo, a Life concludes with a 12–page bibliography that you
might expect in an academic work, which this is most definitely not.
What it is, is a fabulous read by a most extraordinary man.