Leonard Cohen’s son Adam has paid tribute to his late father with a heartfelt Facebook message.
The Canadian songwriter died on November 7th, with the news made public four days later following a private funeral in Montreal.
Writing on Facebook , Adam Cohen said: “My sister and I just buried my father in Montreal. With only immediate family and a few lifelong friends present, he was lowered into the ground in an unadorned pine box, next to his mother and father. Exactly as he’d asked. As I write this I’m thinking of my father’s unique blend of self-deprecation and dignity, his approachable elegance, his charisma without audacity, his old-world gentlemanliness and the hand-forged tower of his work. There’s so much I wish I could thank him for, just one last time.”
Cohen went on to thank his father for providing comfort, wisdom and “dazzling wit and humour”. As a musician himself, who released the album We Go Home in 2014, Adam also thanked his father for inspiring him to pursue songwriting: “I’d thank him for music; first for his music which seduced me as a boy, then for his encouragement of my own music, and finally for the privilege of being able to make music with him. Thank you for your kind messages, for the outpouring of sympathy and for your love of my father.”
Cohen was 82 when he died, and had hinted that his time was approaching in a recent New Yorker profile by David Remnick . He said: “I am ready to die. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable. That’s about it for me.” – (Guardian Service)