Five lives in one: Selected memoirs

These are the memoirs of a 'grand old man' of Canadian and British music. He was born in 1909 in Manchester, England and died in Winnipeg, Canada in 1997.

Leonard Isaacs was a remarkable person and he truly did live 'five lives in one'. He was a fine pianist, an inspiring teacher, a thoughtful adjudicator, a clear-headed administrator and an influential broadcaster with both the CBC and the BBC.

But there was much more. At various times in his long life, Leonard Isaacs was also a tramp, a boy scout, a military bandsman, a composer and arranger, and the conductor of an ensemble that was nearly deported from Canada. He was also a proud father and husband.

The book teems with anecdotes -- the one about a tour of rural England with a donkey pulling a piano is particularly delightful.