The paradoxical popularity of Things Cohenites Don’t Like About Leonard Cohen begat a consideration of aspects of Leonard Cohen’s life and work that are most favored by fans. Based on more than a decade of writing about Leonard on my own sites and turns posting on LeonardCohenForum, Facebook fan groups, YouTube, and the official Leonard Cohen Facebook page, I came up with three classifications of posts that most appealed to Leonard Cohen followers:1
#3 Spiritual Themes
#2 The Women In His Life
#1 Photos
Now, years after Leonard’s death, I’ve become aware of a fourth category:
Leonard Cohen Memorials
Memorial For Leonard Cohen At His Montreal Home – 20162
Robert Kory’s Eloquent Elegy For Leonard Cohen: Ohr HaTorah Synagogue Memorial – L.A., Dec 11, 2016
Leonard Cohen’s Gravesite & Tombstone: Shaar Hashomayim Cemetery – Montreal3
Leonard Cohen’s Final Concert – Auckland: Dec 21, 2013
Leonard Cohen – Save The Last Dance For Me
Auckland: Dec 21, 2013
Video by Wirebirds aka Henry Tengelsen
The Extraordinarily Poignant Final Minutes Of The Last Leonard Cohen European Concert – Amsterdam 2013
Leonard Cohen – I Tried To Leave You, I’ve Got A Little Secret, Save The Last Dance For Me
Amsterdam: Sept 20, 2013
Video by cohenadmirer1
“Suddenly the night has grown colder” – Nov 7, 2016: Leonard Cohen Died4
Leonard Cohen was one of the greatest poets, but for me, he was also one of the most important people in my life, and losing him is like losing a limb. He was my ground, he was my aerial, as he wrote in his song ‘Treaty.’ I really cannot fathom what life will be like without him in it. At least I was able to spend time with him in his last year. He faced death as he faced life: straight on, with honesty, grace, and breathtaking depth of perception. He enjoyed the quiet, simple moments with friends, and being immersed in working on songs. He said in his last interview that he was ready to die, and he said in his last public outing that he would live forever. Both are true. There was no one like him, and there never will be.
Rebecca De Mornay
For five years or so (accounts, as they tend to do, vary) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Leonard Cohen and Rebecca De Mornay were in a relationship that progressed through a phase “a press officer call[ed] ‘an exclusive dating situation’” and into an engagement that was eventually broken off. Leonard describes the liaison and its aftermath at Leonard Cohen Talks About Meeting, Breaking Up With, And Being Forgiven By Rebecca de Mornay.
From 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)
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- For the purpose of this series, I’ve eliminated what could be described as “breaking news,” e.g., announcements about album releases, tours, books, etc. [↩]
- Photo by Exile on Ontario St from Montreal, Canada – R.I.P. Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia. [↩]
- Photo by Maarten Massa [↩]
- Photo by Richard Rayner [↩]