Not many kids have died playing in Montreal churches but this joint near Berri and St. Catherine gobbled up a teen running around on scaffolding in 1877.
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It's the craziest, funniest, scariest and most insightful book ever written about Montreal. Absolute must-reading! Kristian Gravenor's Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now.
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Montreal's Lenny Vista, made famous in the song Suzanne by Lenny Cohen, has been souped up with a fun ride in the background.
We propose a new verse to the song.
...and Jesus liked a carousel...
as it brought all of the ups and downs...
And Suzanne took the carousel...
as her life went round and round
etc.
John Allore's always-fascinating podcast focuses on a fearless prison escape pulled off by Ronald Pouliot, 25, and his brother Mario Pouliot Dec.1974. They tied 48 bedsheets together and smashed through the window of the 11th floor jail of the Parthenais Street prison and simply climbed down. Their mother persuaded to give themselves up because she feared they would be shot dead as escaped convicts.
Thank your local cheese company if it's easy to find a gas station in St. Leonard. The Saputos persuaded authorities to grant family members a series of zoning changes in the area (and one in Boucherville) allowing them to flip the newly-rezoned lands to big oil companies at as much as four times what they paid around 1970-1972 before authorities started asking questions and found a note detailing a $20,000 payment to St. Leonard council. La Presse did some detailed reporting at the time. (As usual the BANQ newspaper search resource proves super handy, plug in terms like saputo and zonage into the bottom box.) The Saputo family went on to invest plenty in the local economy so Coolopolis figures they've paid their debt to society in full.
Montreal is having municipal elections next month and Mayor Denis Coderre is trying to win a second term. Will he get it? Coolopolis predicts he will not.
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Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
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I checked on the net and couldn't find an obit for Kenny Hamilton. Are you sure you don't mean jazz singer Kenny Coleman who died in Vancouver in August? Never saw or met Kenny Hamilton live but watched him on YouTube. His singing style seemed very similar to the Rev Al Green's. Both of Kenny's younger brothers pretty well grew up at Weredale House. Leith, the middle brother was a good friend of mine and has been involved with black issues for years in Montreal. He's McGill grad. The youngest brother, Nicky, died several years ago in Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteTry using the BANQ search engine. It's the answer to all questions pertaining to Montreal/Quebec.
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