Leonard Has Passed Away

News about Leonard Cohen and his work, press, radio & TV programs etc.
oldfriend28
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by oldfriend28 »

A great loss. I hope his family are able to "build" after this loss. Deep, intelligent and handsome. So many are affected by Leonard's loss. All the very best to his family and friends. He obviously loved you all.
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MarieM
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by MarieM »

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/leo ... e32870140/
Toronto Globe and Mail

Leonard Cohen predicted death, wanted simple, traditional funeral
MARTIN KNELMAN
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016

It was a mild day for mid-November in Montreal when Leonard Cohen’s funeral was held last Thursday in the city he always considered home, even after years of living in Los Angeles.

One of his best songs, In My Secret Life, included the words “I know what is right/And I’d die for the truth.” And in the end, those lyrics segued into Cohen’s secret funeral.

About 15 people attended the graveside ceremony and burial in the Jewish section of Mount Royal Cemetery.


“As Leonard requested, there were only a few old and close friends,” said Robert Kory, Cohen’s L.A.-based manager.

He said Cohen wanted his funeral to be simple, absolutely traditional and in compliance with Jewish law, with the body placed in a casket.

“It was as elegant and profound as he wished,” Kory said. “The rabbi spoke, the cantor spoke, and we recited Kaddish [the Hebrew prayer for the dead].”

In late September, Cohen told a friend – another former Montrealer living in L.A. – that he had only six weeks to live. That turned out to be accurate.

Amazingly, though Cohen died before dawn on Tuesday last week, Kory was able to work closely with the rabbi, the cantor and others to keep the funeral plans secret for more than two days.

“I was fortunate enough to have people at all levels to respect Leonard’s wishes,” he explained. “One doesn’t usually find that level of integrity in a chain of people you don’t necessarily know.”

In fact, Kory had been taking good care of Cohen for years. The poet and musician had turned to Kory after discovering – thanks to the suspicion of his daughter, Lorca – that Kelly Lynch, his former manager, had been defrauding him.

“I was recommended to Leonard by a mutual friend,” Kory said. “She knew that I had successfully represented Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys get out of complex financial problems and recover copyrights.”

Lynch was charged and jailed, but efforts to recover Cohen’s money were unsuccessful.

Kory knew that going on the road was the best way to bring enough money into Cohen’s bank account to take care of his family for the rest of his life and after his death.

“I remember before we began years of touring in 2008, Leonard was very reluctant,” Kory said. “I encouraged him to tell me what it was that he liked about touring and what he didn’t like. That way we could figure out what he needed to make it successful critically, financially and personally.”

Kory promised to set up the tour in a way that met Cohen’s need for privacy. Occasionally he would accompany Cohen to a city where he was performing, but more importantly, he would set the rules and values for the support team on the road.

“Leonard was determined to give every audience his all,” Kory said. “He wanted a simple set so the focus would be on the sound. We recruited an extraordinary sound team and we carried a tremendous amount of sound so Leonard could play quietly.”

One of the key rules concerned sound checks at each concert venue.

“Leonard was unusual in that when he held a sound check, it wasn’t perfunctory. He would work with the band for 90 minutes prior to every performance. Then there was a two-hour break, followed by a three-hour concert.”

Most important of all was Kory’s edict of no visitors before or after any concert.

“Is that really possible?” Cohen asked him.

Kory’s reply: “It’s possible if you allow me to make the rule No Exceptions.”

Indeed, Kory declined even well-known artists who wanted to see him.

“You can’t ask him to meet people and then perform the next night.”

When they began working together, Kory recalled, even in New York, he and Cohen could stroll down Broadway after a show with no problem.

“But by 2009 we couldn’t walk down the street without being mobbed.”

At that point, “Leonard told me he had ruined my life.”

It was meant as a joke, of course, but Kory was not joking when he said: “It was my job to take the blame, contrary to what Leonard might wish. And for me, it was such a privilege and honour to serve an artist of such extraordinary stature.”
Marie
Speaking Cohen
Deena
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Deena »

Click this link to see a candle burning on Gratefulness.org http://gratefulness.org/candle/827628-2/
g.grassi
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by g.grassi »

for L.C.

There are many ways to explore the unknown;
one is through poetry.
When the way is authentic, real,
we can feel a shiver on our skin
sometimes scared, sometime with a subtle pleasure;
a draft comes from the door of knowledge the poet's trying to open
and it comes to us, readers, listeners...

now you have gone through that door of unknown;
it could be darkness, it could be light,
finally you have opened it completely,
... now you know.


deepest condolences to the family

giuseppe grassi-2016
youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmVvo1 ... _RcIsXlpdA
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MarieM
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

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http://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/the ... ard-cohen/
Maclean's

‘The heart will not retreat’: How we loved Leonard Cohen

Brian D. Johnson on the private and permanent connections Leonard Cohen’s fans felt for him

Brian D. Johnson
November 16, 2016

I’ve been dreading the day I’d have to write about Leonard Cohen in the past tense. Our last encounter was in a series of emails in September, just before he turned 82. It would be his last Canadian interview. Leonard assessed his situation with his usual droll precision: “A little too weak to get out there and boogie, and a little too healthy to die . . . At this stage in the game, you know that all your activities are subject to abrupt cancellation.” Then he signed off with “appreciate all your kind attention over the years my friend.”

With Leonard it always seemed the other way around. He was compulsively generous with his attentions. Talk to anyone who worked with him, interviewed him, or briefly slipped into his orbit, and you’ll hear a story, tenderly unwrapped like a lost treasure, about a small act of unnecessary kindness. As the memories and tributes came flooding in over the past week, Leonard felt more present than ever, along with his old songs, which provided solace and made prophetic sense of a world gone mad: “I’ve seen the future, brother, it is murder / Things are going to slide, slide in all directions.”

In more innocent times, he was our guide to intimacy. For someone coming of age in the 1960s, attempting to be a writer, or a lover, Leonard Cohen was essential. Even as a young man, he had the wisdom of an elder, an alchemist mixing the sacred and the profane into an inky love potion. “Suzanne” was the first and last song I tried to learn on guitar. “So Long, Marianne” sanctified my first foolish glimmer of a broken heart—after I’d spent a chaste night in Europe with a girl named Marianne who agreed to get naked but never wrote back. I was 17 and writing bad poetry.

I never dreamt I’d someday meet Leonard. But over the last 25 years, I had the privilege of interviewing him for this magazine numerous times. Our professional relationship led to a few casual dinners, and even some collaborations—he contributed performances to three films I’ve made, most recently the documentary feature Al Purdy Was Here. I didn’t take this for granted, but felt incredibly lucky. Of the countless stars I’ve met in my line of work, no one has had a more profound impact on me. And no one gave a better interview.

The first time we met was in a Toronto hotel, in 1992. Leonard was on a 17-country talking tour, promoting his album The Future. Speaking in finely tooled paragraphs, he described the ordeal of creating an album: “Layers of friendship fall away, and you know that you’re in it when you’re not doing anything else but trying to find the rhyme for ‘orange.’ It doesn’t exist. Some people say it’s ‘door hinge,’ but that’s not right.” As I left, he thanked me profusely, as if I had just joined his army, and I floated out onto the street feeling special. I was chagrined to see the no-rhyme-for-orange line appear in another interview, but came to learn that Leonard treated publicity as a ritual that required a polished repertoire. What mattered is that face-to-face he was so utterly present, respecting the moment as if it were as valuable as any other.

A decade after that first encounter, we met in Los Angeles. I drove right by his modest duplex, missing the address, and passed a man in a suit with a silver beard. Backing up, I realized it was Leonard, waiting for me out front. You remember the little things. Leonard serving lentil soup that he’d had simmering on the stove all afternoon, declaring it to be the best in world. Making chopped liver sandwiches. Refilling little gold-rimmed glasses with red wine, so many times we lose count. Watching him try to fix an old toaster in his kitchen, which lacked a dishwasher. He said he was “handy.”

He recalled how he once passed out in that kitchen for some unknown reason, and woke up bleeding on the floor. He pointed out the spot where his head had splintered a shelf, and how he had mended the wood, almost invisibly. By the time enough wine had been drunk and it seemed polite to leave, Leonard said, “Not so fast.” Eventually he led me back to the studio behind the house with Anjani Thomas, his partner at the time. In this enclave of dark wood and Persian rugs we sang along to Irish folk songs stored on his computer.

Leonard’s houses in Montreal and L.A. were exquisitely spare: white rooms, with no clutter of books, CDs or magazines, though there was a well-worn edition of Psalms and a rhyming dictionary beside his computer in L.A. He seemed quite devoted to his big-screen Mac, and confessed he loved to visit the Apple Genius Bar. It sounds like the setup to a joke: “Leonard Cohen walks into a Genius Bar . . .”

While he often pined for Montreal, and chose to live in L.A. to be close to his children, Adam and Lorca, he seemed to appreciate the rich ironies of America. He laughed about visiting Las Vegas, spending most of his time drinking espresso in a café overlooking a canal in a replica of Venice, under a sky permanently set at magic hour.

What often got lost in Leonard’s image as “the grocer of despair” is that he was no stranger to bliss, and was persistently funny, even about the most serious matters. He was a Jewish comedian with the offhand delivery of a Zen priest. His smile was a mile wide. By the time I got to know him a little, his lifelong depression had mysteriously lifted, so that may have had something to do with it. But even the title of his final, funereal album, You Want It Darker, was engineered to elicit a laugh.

Perhaps Leonard’s most endearing quality, in person and on stage, was his artful humility. He never seemed seduced by his fame. In our first interview, 24 years ago, he said he once wanted to be a forest ranger, and that growing up means realizing: “I am this. I’m not even a novelist. I’m not even a poet. I’m a songwriter. You realize you’re not going to be doing anything else. You’re not going to be leading the social movement. You’re not going to be the light of your generation. You’re this guy sitting in front of the table in the good parts of the day, and crawling around on the carpet in the bad parts.”

That was in the days before the depression lifted. Without becoming a novelist, he had written two remarkable novels as a young man. And near the end of his life, he would revisit poetry, which he once told me was “a verdict rather than an intention.” When Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Cohen fans protested that their man was the more serious poet. Leonard just said that giving Dylan the Nobel “is like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain,” a sly compliment that could be taken either way.

A humble posture was integral to Leonard’s generosity. Perhaps the most Canadian thing about him was that he behaved like a public servant. He understood the power of supplication, and it was one of the things that made women adore him. My wife, writer Marni Jackson, was among them. She made contact with Leonard long before I did, as a high school student smitten with his first novel, The Favourite Game. She sent a note to him at New York’s Chelsea Hotel, where he was living at the time, and got a reply. She still has the envelope, her address written in purple fountain-pen ink, and inside a sheet of onion-skin paper. “Dear Marni,” it read, “Thank you for your most perfect letter. Leonard.”

Marni never did get to meet Leonard, but he would remain an enduring presence, even cropping up as a key character in her recently published book of fiction. It seems that every fan feels a private and permanent connection to him, which helps explain how his audience grew larger than ever in the last years of his life. In the past week, as people shared their memories on Facebook, I realized my experience with him was not exclusive. One journalist remembers Leonard making him a chopped-egg sandwich, another (a woman) was offered a bath.

But sometimes the powerful intimacy does not occur alone in a room. The last time I saw Leonard was with thousands of other fans in Toronto during his final tour. Midway through, the band fell silent, and he recited a poem, one that had formed the basis of his song “A Thousand Kisses Deep.” To feel a hush descend over a hockey arena as Leonard’s voice breathed life into a poem about longing and death was enough to make a grown man cry.

. . . I’m still working with the wine
Still dancing cheek to cheek.
The band is playing “Auld Lang Syne”
The heart will not retreat . . .

It was a marathon concert, and as the encores continued, Leonard told the crowd that they should feel free to leave at any time, and just “give me a little wave” on the way out. Allowing us to leave him before he left us. So as the music played, we waved farewell and carried his song into the night.
Marie
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netti
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by netti »

So so heartbroken. Leonard you made the world a lighter place, and now it feel so dark. I will never forget you or your songs.
All my love to Adam and Lorca
Motorcyclefederation
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by Motorcyclefederation »

My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and all who were touched by him.

He gave the world his gift and his energy will remain in all of us who seek it.

RIP Leonard Cohen
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jarkko
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by jarkko »

Long article in El Espectador, Colombia, written by Álvaro Restrepo, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/cu ... ulo-665144
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
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jarkko
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by jarkko »

Image
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
cohenadmirer
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by cohenadmirer »

Tragic.
Sounds preventable
Thankyou for promptly sharing that
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
Preeve
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Tribute to master songwriter

Post by Preeve »

Well the weekend has come and gone having spent most of it wrapped up in Leonards Gift. I couldn't help coming up with this tribute.. Now I know many will not approve.. but its my way of saying thanks to a master humanbeing who by deeds and words and music set the bar for us to follow :

You’ve got me singing
Leonard has died today
You’ve got me singing
Were better for his stay
You’ve got me singing
His songs will always be
You’ve got me singing
His music is in me…


You’ve got me singing
I’m glad he came our way
You’ve got me singing
I’m sad he couldn’t stay
You’ve got me singing
The world is poorer now
You’ve got me singing
Of Leonard out loud.


You’ve got me singing
I want to carry on
You’ve got me thinking
I don’t know on which song
You’ve got me wishing
The pain will go away
You’ve got me singing
The hallelujah way.

We’re all saying
Some things are meant to be
We’re all saying
Its best for you and me
We’re all saying
A gentleman has gone today
We’re all saying
No other will ever stay

We’re all singing
The sun has gone away
We’re all singing
The lights have come to play
We’re all singing
Thanks to you leonard
We’re all going
The Grand Concerts in the sky.

Fellow Cohen Tragic
honey604
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by honey604 »

I noticed in Robert Kory's announcement that Leonard leaves a third grandchild. That is beautiful news, and the child is named for Leonard's grandfather Lyon Cohen. It seems that Lorca has either given birth to or adopted another child. Blessings on the entire family.

The news is finally sinking in to my brain after almost a week. I am listening to Leonard's songs and he is giving me comfort from beyond.
holydove
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by holydove »

Oh my, that makes it even sadder (if that's even possible)!! Because, of course, it means that he might have had more time if that didn't happen. But who knows, maybe that did have to happen, according to some mysterious plan that is beyond our capacity to comprehend. . .but whether it had to happen or not, it does feel quite disturbing... Thank you for posting Robert Kory's message, Jarkko.

I also have to make a correction: in my previous post, I said that a unique & brilliant flame has now been blown out; in my state of intense shock & sadness, that is one of the thoughts that came to me. But, although my heart is still overwhelmed with sorrow, & everyone already knows what I am about to say, I still feel compelled to apologize for that statement & correct it; because, although Leonard's physical presence is no longer here with us, the giant, brilliant flame that was & is Leonard Cohen, lives on forever, in this world & all other worlds, & especially in all of our hearts.

Deepest condolences, again, to Leonard's family & friends; I can't imagine a greater loss in the whole world, from the beginning to the end of time, & you are in my thoughts & prayers.
cohenadmirer
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by cohenadmirer »

holydove wrote:Oh my, that makes it even sadder (if that's even possible)!! Because, of course, it means that he might have had more time if that didn't happen. But who knows, maybe that did have to happen, according to some mysterious plan that is beyond our capacity to comprehend. . .but whether it had to happen or not, it does feel quite disturbing... Thank you for posting Robert Kory's message, Jarkko.

I also have to make a correction: in my previous post, I said that a unique & brilliant flame has now been blown out; in my state of intense shock & sadness, that is one of the thoughts that came to me. But, although my heart is still overwhelmed with sorrow, & everyone already knows what I am about to say, I still feel compelled to apologize for that statement & correct it; because, although Leonard's physical presence is no longer here with us, the giant, brilliant flame that was & is Leonard Cohen, lives on forever, in this world & all other worlds, & especially in all of our hearts.

Deepest condolences, again, to Leonard's family & friends; I can't imagine a greater loss in the whole world, from the beginning to the end of time, & you are in my thoughts & prayers.
Yes for sure there will always be a 'brilliant flame'.
Take care Rachel.
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
birminghamfan
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Re: Leonard Has Passed Away

Post by birminghamfan »

LEONARD Cohen was in "deep pain" caused by cancer before he died.

The 'Hurricane' hitmaker passed away at the age of 82, and although no exact date and cause of death has been confirmed, it has been claimed that the iconic musician was suffering from the disease and had been physically debilitated by the illness.

David Remnick - who interviewed Cohen in the summer for The New Yorker magazine - said during The New Yorker Radio Hour on Thursday: "When I visited Cohen in Los Angeles he was suffering from cancer although he was keeping that very private. He was in deep pain from compression fractures in his spine and he had to sit in a big blue medical chair to ease that pain.

"He was very thin already. Maybe 105, 110lbs. But I've got to say he was in an ebullient mood for a man who knew where life was taking him and he was headed there in a hurry. And at the same time, he was incredibly gracious. The most gracious host this side of my mother
quoted from southwesternontario.ca , Nov 11th 2016


It would appear likely that Leonard's severe and treatment resistant back pain was caused by spinal secondaries , which may have occurred years after the successful first treatment of a tumour. His death may have have been unexpected in a technical sense i.e. unexpected that week , but I think Leonard had been telling us for a while that he was terminally ill , though naturally enough none of us wanted to listen. It is unknowable to us how long he was disablingly unwell for , I hope that he had a decent life until not too far from the end

I have just read the Los Angeles Times interview with Jennifer Warnes , and I am moved by how Leonard's kindness could touch other people's hearts - a powerful and touching love story.

My deepest condolences to Leonard's family , rest in peace
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