Life Legends

Actor Christopher Plummer, Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella, ex-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and philanthropist Honey Sherman - these are a few of the unforgettable people with whom we’ve worked over 35 years. Life Legends shares some fun facts and fond memories.

 
 

Ronnie Hawkins

Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Pomerantz

"Wanna smoke a joint with me before the recording session?” he asked. It was 1998 and I was with singer Ronnie Hawkins at his farm near Peterborough, Ontario, recording a parody of "Johnny Be Goode" for a surprise 50th birthday video for Heather Reisman, owner of the Indigo stores chain.

The rockabilly musician was a total charmer and non-stop raconteur: half his stories seemed to revolve around fellow Arkansas native Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson and some of Ronnie’s other pals from his old back-up group, “The Hawks”, who went on to form “The Band” and achieve huge fame. He waxed nostalgic about Bob Dylan and told a sad story about a former business manager, who ran off to Europe with a chunk of his money. A character, yes, but when it came time to work, Rompin’ Ronnie was a total pro and he and his band delivered the goods.

Here’s the music video we recorded with Ronnie:

 

Memories of Ted Rogers

Ted Rogers of Rogers Communications

I first met Ted Rogers in the early 1990s when he took part in several tribute videos we did for friends and colleagues of his. What struck me: He was very tall; very friendly; would always appear in a beautiful yet rumpled suit and, above all, he made me feel important by asking questions about me and my business.

He might have been a communications and broadcasting titan and, for a while, Canada’s 5th richest person, but, boy, was he ever down to earth.

So I was thrilled when, in 2002, Ted was being feted as B’nai Brith Toronto’s “person of the year” and I was asked to do a funny tribute video about him. The biopic was hosted by former Global TV anchor Peter Kent and a highlight was a phony “Q&A” between Rogers and Kent.

I felt like a million bucks when Rogers came over to me after the screening and said: “Bob, that was fantastic. Ask me how many copies of the video I want.” When I asked him, he said “200!”

I felt even better when Rogers Communications asked us a year later to do a video tribute for Ted’s 70th birthday party to show to company employees. After that we did seven or eight more  videos for Rogers: for milestone birthdays, retirement parties and, once, a wake for one of his dear friends, lawyer Albert Gnat of Lang Michener.

Some Fun Facts about Rogers:

  • Ted was the only child of Edward Rogers, who invented the batteryless radio and founded radio station CFRB (RB stands for ‘Rogers Batteryless’); 

  • While still a law student,  he bought all the shares in local radio station CHFI, which pioneered the use of FM at a time when only 5% of the Toronto households had FM receivers;

  • He tried - and failed - several times to buy back CFRB;

  • He might have his name on more Toronto buildings than anyone else–including the eponymous Rogers Centre, Rogers school of management, Rogers Hot Docs cinema, Rogers centre for heart research, Rogers corporate HQ on Bloor St..the list goes on;

  • He was a direct descendant of Quaker leader Timothy Rogers (1756-1834), who founded Newmarket and Pickering, Ontario;

  • Ted shared a May 27 birthday with luminaries including shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, U.S. V.P. Hubert Humphrey and golfer Sam Snead.

A handful of people with whom I worked closely at Rogers are some of the same people embroiled in the current boardroom battle, including former chair and CEO Alan Horn (surprise 50th birthday video honouree), former vice-chair Phil Lind (client) and former public affairs head Jan Innes (client). Also  met Ted’s son, Edward, and Ted’s  wife, Loretta. All were extremely gracious to my crew and I, all had good senses of humour. Edward seemed way shyer than his dad.

I remain eternally grateful to Ted Rogers and his company for their support and many good times. Here’s hoping the feud is settled as quickly and amicably as possible.

Have a look at this short clip from the phoney Q&A from Ted’s 2002 tribute video: