Izzy'd be devastated, 'but most of it is his fault' by Gayle MacDonald
Source : Globe & Mail
Peter C. Newman's biography of Izzy Asper comes out just as CanWest faces the music, Gayle MacDonald writes
November 15, 2008
It seemed logical to ask Izzy Asper's biographer Peter C. Newman if the late media mogul would be rolling in his grave as a steady stream of bad news engulfed CanWest Global this week, which laid off 560 people and saw its stock price slump to 80 cents.
"He shouldn't be rolling in his grave because most of it is his fault," shrugged Newman, during an interview at a Toronto eatery as he pitches his latest book, called Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada's Media Mogul.
Indeed, when Asper died suddenly in the fall of 2003, he left his successor and youngest son Leonard in one hell of a pickle, a situation exacerbated by the economic downturn, CanWest's now $3.7-billion debt load and a precarious slump in advertising sales.
Before his father died - and not long after the company had shelled out more than $3-billion for Conrad Black's Southam newspaper chain - Newman writes in the book (his 24th tome) that Leonard Asper presciently told Izzy Asper the following: "That's great planning, dad. You left me with so much debt that we can't do anything except try and service the debt."
That turned out to be an understatement. But Newman notes there is no doubt it would pain Izzy - as it now does his family - to see the non-voting shares under a buck (in 1996, CanWest stock traded at $45).
Seated at a quiet corner table, sipping a Bloody Mary and sporting his trademark Greek fisherman's hat, Newman, now 79, looks every bit the jaunty man of letters in his red turtleneck and matching poof stuffed neatly into the pocket of his shiny blue blazer.
It's wet and dreary outside the Toronto eatery, but the weather has not slowed down this near-octogenarian, who has lined up a slew of interviews to promote his latest book about the irascible Winnipegger.
A man whom Newman counted as a friend - mind you, not a close one. "I wouldn't say close because you're never close to someone like Izzy," explains Newman, of the hard-working, hard-living loner who is described by a colleague in the book as perfectly balanced, with "a chip on each shoulder."
Unlike the subjects of some of Newman's other books - the ones, for instance, that eviscerated former prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney - Newman clearly respected and admired Asper, who smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and still managed to work tirelessly for two decades to build Global TV into a third national network, becoming a billionaire in the process. (Newman received a research grant from the Asper Foundation to write this book, but he maintains he had total independence to chronicle Asper's business and personal exploits as he saw fit.)
The two men met when Newman was working on The Acquisitors in the early 1980s, the sequel to The Establishment that focused on business leaders in the West. The writer/journalist was first struck by Asper's cutting wit. But they ultimately bonded over their shared fanatical love of jazz.
"There are very few people of any description in this country who had the same interest in jazz as Izzy and I," said Newman, who shared records with the self-described "intravenous martini" guzzler who spent many a night at home in his study playing the piano and knocking back gin until 3 a.m. or later.
"He just immediately captured me with his sense of humour, which very few guys in The Establishment book have," continues Newman. "I remember when he had his pacemaker put in, he phoned me. I was very sympathetic, making all the appropriate sounds. And Izzy says, 'No. No. It's great. It opens my garage door.' "
Sense of humour aside, Izzy Asper could also be a tyrannical bully, famous at CanWest Global for his scathing e-mails dictated in the middle of the night to employees. (One sent to a senior executive read: "Do that again and I'll cut your nuts off.")
"I remember watching him work and he was impossible," concedes Newman. "He was literally flying off in all directions, swearing at people, cursing them, and firing them. I said, 'This is terrible. You can't act like this. Don't you have an ulcer?' " recounts Newman. "And Izzy said, 'No. I don't get ulcers. I give them.' "
Asper began his career as a tax lawyer. Then he morphed into the dynamic (but failed) leader of the Liberal party in Manitoba. Fed up with politics after five years, he then joined forces with Gerry Schwartz in a merchant bank (the two fell out, but later reconciled). Finally, Asper settled into amassing media properties, first TV stations in Canada, then abroad, and finally with the August, 2000, acquisition of the Southam newspaper chain from Conrad Black.
One of the most riveting parts of the book is a vitriolic letter exchange between Black and Asper, who were feuding over editorial control of Southam's jewel, the National Post. (The pompous Black, now serving a jail term for fraud and obstruction of justice, actually comes across sounding the gentler of the two.)
The book also includes some hilarious revelations, such as the fact that Leonard bought his father a British title of his own (after Black became the Lord of Crossharbour). Asper - who never used it - was also Lord of the Manor of Polington in the parish of Carminster in the County of Dorset.
Another great snippet includes details of a 1982 prank that Asper pulled at the swank wedding of Schwartz to Chapters/Indigo doyenne Heather Reisman.
Newman writes that Asper "made arrangements with the comedy club Yuk Yuk's ... and while Gerry was introducing his bride from the back of the room, an actress who looked like a very pregnant peasant with rubber boots, babushka and horn-rimmed glasses would interrupt him, screaming in a thick accent, 'Geraldo, Geraldo, look whatta you do to me? You promise we getta married.' "
Newman trumpets Asper as the man who built a mom and pop TV station into Canada's most profitable - and most watched - network. (Today that mantle is held by CTV).
Taking a final sip of his second Bloody Mary, Newman reflects on the tarnished prize that was handed over to Leonard. "The poor bugger. It's hard to blame Leonard," he says. "He was handed the mess by Izzy."
Perhaps the moral of the tale is that Asper, who died of a massive heart attack, should have followed one of his own axioms that Newman says he passed down to his kids: Don't try to build an empire; no empire survives.
© Globe and Mail
"He shouldn't be rolling in his grave because most of it is his fault," shrugged Newman, during an interview at a Toronto eatery as he pitches his latest book, called Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada's Media Mogul.
Indeed, when Asper died suddenly in the fall of 2003, he left his successor and youngest son Leonard in one hell of a pickle, a situation exacerbated by the economic downturn, CanWest's now $3.7-billion debt load and a precarious slump in advertising sales.
Before his father died - and not long after the company had shelled out more than $3-billion for Conrad Black's Southam newspaper chain - Newman writes in the book (his 24th tome) that Leonard Asper presciently told Izzy Asper the following: "That's great planning, dad. You left me with so much debt that we can't do anything except try and service the debt."
That turned out to be an understatement. But Newman notes there is no doubt it would pain Izzy - as it now does his family - to see the non-voting shares under a buck (in 1996, CanWest stock traded at $45).
Seated at a quiet corner table, sipping a Bloody Mary and sporting his trademark Greek fisherman's hat, Newman, now 79, looks every bit the jaunty man of letters in his red turtleneck and matching poof stuffed neatly into the pocket of his shiny blue blazer.
It's wet and dreary outside the Toronto eatery, but the weather has not slowed down this near-octogenarian, who has lined up a slew of interviews to promote his latest book about the irascible Winnipegger.
A man whom Newman counted as a friend - mind you, not a close one. "I wouldn't say close because you're never close to someone like Izzy," explains Newman, of the hard-working, hard-living loner who is described by a colleague in the book as perfectly balanced, with "a chip on each shoulder."
Unlike the subjects of some of Newman's other books - the ones, for instance, that eviscerated former prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney - Newman clearly respected and admired Asper, who smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and still managed to work tirelessly for two decades to build Global TV into a third national network, becoming a billionaire in the process. (Newman received a research grant from the Asper Foundation to write this book, but he maintains he had total independence to chronicle Asper's business and personal exploits as he saw fit.)
The two men met when Newman was working on The Acquisitors in the early 1980s, the sequel to The Establishment that focused on business leaders in the West. The writer/journalist was first struck by Asper's cutting wit. But they ultimately bonded over their shared fanatical love of jazz.
"There are very few people of any description in this country who had the same interest in jazz as Izzy and I," said Newman, who shared records with the self-described "intravenous martini" guzzler who spent many a night at home in his study playing the piano and knocking back gin until 3 a.m. or later.
"He just immediately captured me with his sense of humour, which very few guys in The Establishment book have," continues Newman. "I remember when he had his pacemaker put in, he phoned me. I was very sympathetic, making all the appropriate sounds. And Izzy says, 'No. No. It's great. It opens my garage door.' "
Sense of humour aside, Izzy Asper could also be a tyrannical bully, famous at CanWest Global for his scathing e-mails dictated in the middle of the night to employees. (One sent to a senior executive read: "Do that again and I'll cut your nuts off.")
"I remember watching him work and he was impossible," concedes Newman. "He was literally flying off in all directions, swearing at people, cursing them, and firing them. I said, 'This is terrible. You can't act like this. Don't you have an ulcer?' " recounts Newman. "And Izzy said, 'No. I don't get ulcers. I give them.' "
Asper began his career as a tax lawyer. Then he morphed into the dynamic (but failed) leader of the Liberal party in Manitoba. Fed up with politics after five years, he then joined forces with Gerry Schwartz in a merchant bank (the two fell out, but later reconciled). Finally, Asper settled into amassing media properties, first TV stations in Canada, then abroad, and finally with the August, 2000, acquisition of the Southam newspaper chain from Conrad Black.
One of the most riveting parts of the book is a vitriolic letter exchange between Black and Asper, who were feuding over editorial control of Southam's jewel, the National Post. (The pompous Black, now serving a jail term for fraud and obstruction of justice, actually comes across sounding the gentler of the two.)
The book also includes some hilarious revelations, such as the fact that Leonard bought his father a British title of his own (after Black became the Lord of Crossharbour). Asper - who never used it - was also Lord of the Manor of Polington in the parish of Carminster in the County of Dorset.
Another great snippet includes details of a 1982 prank that Asper pulled at the swank wedding of Schwartz to Chapters/Indigo doyenne Heather Reisman.
Newman writes that Asper "made arrangements with the comedy club Yuk Yuk's ... and while Gerry was introducing his bride from the back of the room, an actress who looked like a very pregnant peasant with rubber boots, babushka and horn-rimmed glasses would interrupt him, screaming in a thick accent, 'Geraldo, Geraldo, look whatta you do to me? You promise we getta married.' "
Newman trumpets Asper as the man who built a mom and pop TV station into Canada's most profitable - and most watched - network. (Today that mantle is held by CTV).
Taking a final sip of his second Bloody Mary, Newman reflects on the tarnished prize that was handed over to Leonard. "The poor bugger. It's hard to blame Leonard," he says. "He was handed the mess by Izzy."
Perhaps the moral of the tale is that Asper, who died of a massive heart attack, should have followed one of his own axioms that Newman says he passed down to his kids: Don't try to build an empire; no empire survives.
© Globe and Mail
