Suddenly the night has grown colder.
The god of love preparing to depart.
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder,
They slip between the sentries of the heart.

Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure,
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine;
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine.

From Alexandra Leaving
Words by Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen died Monday, Nov 7, 2016.

Burial took place Nov 101 under the auspices of Montreal’s Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue, the congregation to which Leonard and his family belonged and the congregation for which both Leonard’s great-grandfather, Lazarus Cohen, and his grandfather, Lyon Cohen, served as President.

Listing the deceased’s accomplishments, usually obligatory in a eulogy, would be redundant in this case. Those who follow this site are well aware of Leonard Cohen’s exploits as a singer-songwriter, poet, novelist, and icon. I offer instead my own expression of his significance:

Leonard Cohen offers the possibility of living with grace, dignity, and integrity, without submitting to illusions, without succumbing to indifference, and without indulging in denial of our own failures and flaws, in a world that is too often corrupt & malevolent.

 

 

At Leonard Cohen’s 2008 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction, Lou Reed put it more succinctly and more elegantly:

 

We’re so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is

 

 

Lou had it right.

 

 

In Memory Of Leonard Cohen

The following articles about the passing of Leonard Cohen are especially informative, gracious, interesting, or evocative.

Articles & Obituaries

• Leonard Cohen: Remembering the Life and Legacy of the Poet of Brokenness by Mikal Gilmore (Rolling Stone: 30 November 2016)
• Leonard Cohen: Legendary Montreal singer-songwriter, poet, novelist and artist, has died at age 82 by Ian McGillis (Montreal Gazette: November 11, 2016)
• For Leonard Cohen, the End Came With a Fall in the Night by Ben Sisarionov (New York Times: 16, 2016) Note: The title if this piece may be misleadingly oversimplistic. See A Medical Note On The Death Of Leonard Cohen below.
• A Medical Note On The Death Of Leonard Cohen by Allan Showalter (Cohencentric/AllanShowalter.com: Aug 16, 2017). Pertinent explanations of leukemia, coagulation defects, falls, and No Heroic Measures stipulations.
• An Appraisal: Leonard Cohen, Master of Meanings and Incantatory Verse by Jon Pareles (New York Times: Nov 11, 2016)
• Leonard Cohen buried quietly on Thursday in Montreal by Ellen BraitStaff and Allan Woods (Montreal Star: Nov. 11, 2016)
• Hear Leonard Cohen: A Final Interview With David Remnick (New Yorker)

Personal Reflections

• ‘Born to be his conduit’: Jennifer Warnes remembers her friend and collaborator Leonard Cohen by Randall Roberts (LA Times: Nov 14, 2016)
• Being Leonard Cohen’s Rabbi by Rabbi Mordecai Finley (Jewish Journal: Nov. 16, 2016)
• Rebecca de Mornay Remembers Ex-Fiancé Leonard Cohen: ‘There Was No One Like Him, and There Never Will Be’ by Alex Heigl (People: November 11, 2016)
• Leonard Cohen Smiles Down on Us From the ‘Tower of Song’ by David Weiss (Newsweek: Nov 11, 2016) Don Was talks about his friendship with Leonard Cohen, the making of Elvis’s Rolls Royce, and much more, including the relative effects of Buddhism and amphetamines on songwriting.
• What Leonard Cohen means to me: ‘He made me feel less heartbroken’ Paul Muldoon, Martha Wainwright, Ezra Furman (Guardian: Nov 13, 2016)
• Considering Leonard Cohen – Ravished By The Song: A Confession By David Peloquin (Cohencentric/AllanShowalter.com)
• My Life with Leonard Cohen by Ruth Wisse (Mosaic: Nov. 30 2016)
• Leonard Cohen’s Temple of Song by Cantor Gideon Zelermyer (Globe and Mail Nov. 18, 2016) The Cantor of the Shaar Hashomayim congregation in Westmount, who collaborated with Leonard Cohen on two songs from You Want It Darker, talks about their relationship.

Credit Due Department: Photo atop post by Richard Rayner. Photo of Shaar Hashomayim cemetery gates by Gary Singh. Photo of grave by Maarten Massa. Photo of Leonard Cohen by Penny Showalter.

_____________________________________

1. His death was publicly announced later that day. [↩]