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Leonard Cohen back singing for a pension
The reclusive poet and troubadour Leonard Cohen has made a rare public appearance to promote his first book in 22 years, which he hopes will help him recoup some of the money he says was stolen by his former manager.
Cohen, 71, recently won a $US9 million ($11.6 million) lawsuit against Kelley Lynch, his one-time lover and manager of nearly 17 years, whom Cohen says skimmed more than $US5 million of his savings over eight years, leaving him about $US150,000 to retire on.
He was greeted on Saturday by a throng of fans who shut down a normally busy Toronto street.
He recited a short poem in his signature baritone and performed two of his most famous songs, So Long, Marianne and Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, with Canadian musicians Barenaked Ladies and Ron Sexsmith.
Book of Longing, Cohen's 12th publication in a career spanning 50 years, has received mostly favourable reviews. The Globe and Mail newspaper called it "not so much an illustrated collection of poems as it is a shaped autobiography".
The book is filled with Cohen's drawings and is dedicated to the Canadian poet Irving Layton, a mentor to Cohen who died this year. Many of the poems were written during Cohen's stay at the Zen Centre on Mount Baldy, near Los Angeles, where he was ordained as a Zen monk.
Equally renowned for his soulful ballads as his poetry, Cohen has enjoyed the image of troubadour and romantic since his first book in 1956, Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Cohen is rumoured to be planning a tour later this year and is working on a CD, a follow-up to 2004's Dear Heather.
The reclusive poet and troubadour Leonard Cohen has made a rare public appearance to promote his first book in 22 years, which he hopes will help him recoup some of the money he says was stolen by his former manager.
Cohen, 71, recently won a $US9 million ($11.6 million) lawsuit against Kelley Lynch, his one-time lover and manager of nearly 17 years, whom Cohen says skimmed more than $US5 million of his savings over eight years, leaving him about $US150,000 to retire on.
He was greeted on Saturday by a throng of fans who shut down a normally busy Toronto street.
He recited a short poem in his signature baritone and performed two of his most famous songs, So Long, Marianne and Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, with Canadian musicians Barenaked Ladies and Ron Sexsmith.
Book of Longing, Cohen's 12th publication in a career spanning 50 years, has received mostly favourable reviews. The Globe and Mail newspaper called it "not so much an illustrated collection of poems as it is a shaped autobiography".
The book is filled with Cohen's drawings and is dedicated to the Canadian poet Irving Layton, a mentor to Cohen who died this year. Many of the poems were written during Cohen's stay at the Zen Centre on Mount Baldy, near Los Angeles, where he was ordained as a Zen monk.
Equally renowned for his soulful ballads as his poetry, Cohen has enjoyed the image of troubadour and romantic since his first book in 1956, Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Cohen is rumoured to be planning a tour later this year and is working on a CD, a follow-up to 2004's Dear Heather.
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