Wednesday, August 5, 2026
In September, 1974, when I was 21 years old, I took the train from Toronto to Ottawa to attend law school at U. of Ottawa. With no pre-made arrangements, I ended up in an off-campus student residence, sharing with 2 other students, one of whom was a journalism student at Carleton from Montreal named Irwin Huberman. Irwin had a Gibson Hummingbird guitar and I had my Martin D-28, and we hit it off, musically and as close friends. In my second year of law school (Irwin's final year in journalism), we shared an apartment in mid-town Ottawa, where we practiced each day and perfected an impressive repertoire of songs, ranging from Bruce Cockburn to Van Morrison and from Gordon Lightfoot to Buffalo Springfield. We performed at L'Hibou, a popular Ottawa pub, and at the University, but mostly for ourselves. When I went to third year at U of O, Irwin went out west to take a job at the Fort McMcMurray Today (prior to co-founding the Fort McMurray Express). From time to time he would fly through Toronto's Pearson Airport, I would grab my guitar and we'd play in the departure area until security showed up. We lost touch over the years but, out of the blue, Irwin invited me to join him and various family members on June 29th, just a month ago, at a house he rented with Air BnB, just north of Toronto, for a musical get-together. I drove up to Aurora and had the most wonderful and magical (and nostalgic) evening, playing all the old songs and re-connecting with a very special friend. Of course, I had no idea what was to come so shockingly soon after that, but that evening has now taken on special meaning and will be a source of joy and poignancy forever. Hal Sclodnick
