Barry Schreiber
I always loved English and writing. It always seemed strange to me that my outside readers would give me A’s, while some of my teachers much lower marks. Some teachers don’t realize the impact they have on their students—especially when they put them in a box.
There is nothing like being branded an idiot. It marks you. When I met my wife, she happened to be working at TMR High and had access to my records. She told me that it was noted on my record that I wasn’t university material. Only a few years later, Concordia selected me as their candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. So there.
I played on all the TMR High football teams, was a member of the basketball and wrestling teams and track and volleyball, but when it came to pick up my Athletic Letter, I was told I was not the kind of person deserving of a letter (but I was good enough not only to play on these teams, but to coach the wrestling team when our gym instructor was away for a while). I have mixed feelings, as you can see, about TMR High.
I left sports by the time I was 21 only to return to it at 28 in the form of dance. Can you believe I received a ballet scholarship from les Grandes Ballet Canadienne in my late 20s! Want to know what it’s like thinking of yourself as a jock for much of your life, then suddenly being perceived as so effete that female dancers undressed in front of you? I discovered an entirely different culture in the dance world… which wasn’t good for my self-image, so I left it. (I also left because I am bow legged and flat footed.) But I look back fondly on certain aspects of my dance experience…very fondly!
I married a TMR girl, eight years my junior, who also went to TMR High. My children are 22 and 24 (I’ve always been a late bloomer). We’ve been married for 27-28 years. I’m not sure. In any case, I developed a passion for music in my 40s and took up guitar (I also took up and dropped, along the way, flute, saxophone, harmonica, and accordion). When I met my wife, she told me she had given up piano and clarinet. I knew immediately, she was the one for me. Together, we don’t play at least 8 different instruments. But my daughter, Lauren, does. She’s a flutist and singer and one of Toronto’s top music promoters and more recently a band manager too. Ask me if I’m proud.
When we had Lauren, I was determined to try to make her into a musician. I bought her a full keyboard when she was six months old. At two, she could reach the key board and when I came home, I knew she had been practicing. I could see the jam and crayon marks left on the keys. I sold the keyboard.
But, when Lauren was seven, she started lessons on a recorder, which quickly led to her taking up flute. Pretty soon Lauren was giving recitals. I think the weekly recitals she performed for my in-laws were instrumental (bad pun intended) in her development. But I soon realized that we needed to find other performance venues for Lauren because my in-laws decided to spend the winters in Florida and, more and more, when I announced another home recital, their busy social life prevented them from attending. My sister-in law and her family also developed an allergy to our dogs, so that prevented their attendance. That’s when we decided to send Lauren to music camp. It was a brilliant idea.
The camp was located in Maine. On visiting day, there was a full schedule of musical events prepared for the parents. Lauren was playing flute in the orchestra and was also in a jazz band and she had the lead in a musical play, Once Upon a Mattress (Ask me if we were proud!). As we moved from one event to another, I could see parents walking around with big smiles on their faces. The talent at the camp was amazing. Most of the girls in Lauren’s bunk could play multiple instruments—guitar, piano, clarinet, accordion—virtually all the instruments that my wife and I had given up. Some were opera singers, others were actors and dancers, but all played an instrument or 4. This was the perfect environment for my daughter. Although there was a lake and canoes and tennis courts, she never went swimming or played sports. She had practices from 9am to 5 pm every day. She looked pale—but her counselors told us that she was thriving. For that matter, all the kids looked pale. They were all thriving.
Well, as Lauren grew older she took an interest in all kinds of music, everything from classical music to the old time jazz greats. Her progress even inspired me to get back into music and during this period I gave up the guitar again, the flute, and the saxophone. Today, I can’t play even more instruments.
As for Lauren, she studied entertainment management in a college in Toronto, then started her own music promotions company, Shameless Promotions. She has been nominated by the Toronto magazine, Now, and the University of Toronto, among others, as Toronto’s top musical promoter of indie music. And I have a collection of practically unused instruments for sale
My son, Daniel, is just finding himself. We’re looking together. I’m sure we’ll find him. He’s me, only 3 inches taller, a lot smarter, but just as good looking (ambiguous remark don’t you think).
My son, Daniel, and Springer Spaniel, Tucker
My daughter, Lauren
I finally left school, (although I did teach English and Shakespeare at Concordia for a few years), to open a marketing/communications agency and also, two years later, a book publishing company, which I ran with partners for nearly 15 years. Every book I published was as best-seller, but only when I gave up traditional publishing and developed something akin to “placement” that one finds in the film industry. After I sold my two companies, I did a stint as a university marketer, then ventured into real estate and now I’m about to enter into home renovation. Along the way, I’ve trained and showed dogs and more recently worked with special needs students—down syndrome, autism, ADD, etc. I think of my career much like gardening; I see myself as a Wandering Jew and I’m still growing…not quite mature yet, either.
P.S. I love reading your bios!
Barry