Joseph Greenstone, a lifelong resident of Montreal, moved to Toronto three years ago to be closer to his children. He and his wife Sylvia now reside in a seniors residence, just as they did in Côte Saint-Luc at Le Castel Royale.
Joseph, of course, is a superb violonist and performed for many years with his own orchestra, notably at the annual Austrian Ball. Here is a detailed blog I did on him a few years ago.
At 95 years young, he only recently learned how to email and that is the way we keep in touch. A former member of the Côte Saint-Luc Men's Club, here is what he had to tell me.
"The one redeeming factor is that at age 95 I have lost none of my musical ability," he remarked. "My fingers are completely flexible and I feel perfectly comfortable playing. My intention was to retire completely when I arrived here, and when word got out that I play the violin, the management asked me to perform for the residents. I have become a 'star' here – the hall is completely jammed when I give my concerts. Because of my diverse career — I have played every facet of music at the highest level — I perform here usually every two months. Each concert lasts one hour, and I play every program by memory, inasmuch as I have such an extensive repertoire in any type of music. It is great for my morale.
"I have been in Toronto for exactly three years now. For all intents and purposes I am and always will be a Montrealer who happens to be living in Toronto. After three years I still feel like an outsider and cannot get accustomed with the civic and provincial politics here. One thing for sure — there's as much corruption here as in Montreal and Quebec. Every day I check the Montreal news -obituaries of course – and the general news, and then I'll glance at the local news. Quebec gets pretty good coverage here."
Joseph kept a copy of a story I wrote more than a year ago in the Jewish Tribune Newspaper where I described my one week stay in Toronto. The headline read: "Why this Quebec Jew was never lured to Toronto." Joseph said he agreed with my sentiments. " I generally find the Montreal people warmer, but maybe I'm being biased," he said. "There is nothing here like Cavendish Mall and the CSL Shopping Centre, where you are sure to meet some friends. Everything here is so spread out. Traffic here downtown is impossible. Most people do their shopping in their own area. To add to the confusion, many streets here have multiple names. The main street near my daughter, for instance ,has four names – the name of the street changes about every kilometre.
