Leonard Cohen's early years, as told through hundreds of voices.

The first of three oral histories tells of Leonard Cohen's early years through hundreds of voices

Back in the mid-2000s, Michael Posner received a much awaited email from a coveted address, baldymonk@aol.com. The address belonged to the superstar Canadian singer, songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen.

Posner, then a staff reporter for The Globe and Mail, had contacted Cohen to ask for his participation in an oral history, featuring quotes and recollections from hundreds of people involved throughout his life. But the reply from the famous musician was less than favourable.

“He sent back a nice note, but basically said no,” Posner told the National Post.

Cohen was understandably busy. At the time, he was pursuing legal action against his former manager Kelley Lynch, who was accused of stealing millions from Cohen's personal accounts. She was later ordered to pay the musician around US$9 million.

Posner shelved the idea for years, but revived the project shortly after Cohen's death on Nov. 7, 2016, at 82. Now, three years and hundreds of interviews later, Posner has released the first of three volumes detailing the life of Leonard Cohen, through the voices of his family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and, yes, lovers.

Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years is an oral biography, which means that while the author might sprinkle in a few paragraphs for context, the majority of the book is told through the voices of other people — and a few quotes from old Cohen interviews that Posner received permission to use.

“I prefer oral biography because it allows these individual voices who actually knew him to offer their own judgments about the man,” Posner said. “So you get this chorus of voices, some of whose memories might be faulty, but it almost doesn't matter. Because the reader gets to decide which point of view they think is closer to the truth. I like that.

“For a guy as complex as Leonard Cohen

was, and as smart as he was, I think he would enjoy the ambiguity that ensues from this kind of approach.”

Cohen was born Sept. 21, 1934, in Westmount, a rich suburb near Montreal. Wealth permeated the enclosed city, which had its own police department and traffic rules, and where most children were enrolled in private schools.

“Westmount was kind of a beacon for him,” Posner said. “Although he eventually moved to another part of Montreal, those early years really shaped him in profound ways.”

The Cohens were pillars of the Jewish community in Westmount and were considered by some to be Jewish royalty, Posner said. Cohen's relatives were respected community organizers, rabbis and savvy businessmen — so it was often expected of the Cohens to join the family's clothing business. It's not hard to see how the public persona of Cohen emerged from such a proper family, especially considering his tendency to be the best dressed man in the room.

But as his love for poetry and writing began to grow, he faced increasing pressure from his relatives to join the family business.

“He had this core conviction that he didn't want to be in the family business,” Posner said. “I think he was grateful for the efforts his uncles made to help his family particularly after his father died in 1944. But he wanted no part of a commercial life, and he wanted no part of an academic life. He wanted to be a writer.”

Closer to home, Cohen reportedly fought often with his mother, Masha, especially after his father's death in 1944. Emotional with a strong Russian accent, she would focus many of her expectations and anxieties on her only son.

“Leonard learned to deal with the world, which is essentially rough and philistine, by dealing with his mother,” one source says in the book. “When it comes steamrolling over you, all you can do is utter a prayer.”

After a stint attending McGill University, where he was acquainted with fellow poets Louis Dudek and Irving Layton, Cohen decided to leave Montreal.

“It gives you a broader perspective on everything, but particularly on your roots and your upbringing,” Posner said. “So he did have to escape, and so he does. He goes to Greece, and that's the start of it.”

He left for London, and eventually reached the Greek island of Hydra, where he met one of his muses, Marianne Ihlen, the inspiration of one of his most famous songs, So Long, Marianne.

But despite the pressures of his relatives and especially his mother, Cohen found himself returning to his hometown throughout his life, not quite able to escape its attraction — he continued to own a home in the city until his death. As he wrote in his second published book of poetry, The Spice Box of Earth, “I belong beside the Mediterranean. My ancestors made a terrible mistake. But I have to keep coming back to Montreal to renew my neurotic affiliations.”

Posner's book follows characters throughout Cohen's life until the beginning of his lucrative career as a musician and his first international tour in 1970. Two more oral history volumes are set to be released, in which Posner says, “there will be even more revelations.”

As he spoke to more and more people about Cohen's life and work, Posner said he was able to begin tracking down the origin and inspiration for Cohen's poetry and songs. The origin of The Cuckold's Song — a poem published in The Spice Box of Earth about a man whose girlfriend sleeps with another man — was previously unknown, but Posner discovered that it was very likely inspired by a 1956 affair between his first cousin Robert and Cohen's then-girlfriend, Freda Guttman.

“I don't think he was too put out about it,” Robert Cohen tells Posner, “especially as the event was great fodder.”

Even though the book contains hundreds of interviews, Posner said, there were still a few people who don't feature in the biography. Cohen's two children, Adam and Lorca, turned down the offer to share stories about their father. Some wanted to keep their stories about Leonard to themselves and Posner says there are a few people he wished he could have spoken to, but who died before he could get to them.

“If I had begun the project a decade earlier,” Posner said, “maybe I would have had more voices.”

But ultimately, Posner hopes the oral biography gives readers a fuller depiction of Cohen, as seen through the eyes of the people most affected by his presence.

“There's something really special about this guy, which I hope comes through in the book.”

I belong beside the Mediterranean. My ancestors made a terrible mistake. But I have to keep coming back to Montreal

to renew my neurotic affiliations.

JOHN MAHONEY / POSTMEDIA