The Dialectical Dancer Format: Hardcover

Through a combination of amiable anecdotes, sharp-eyed historical reporting, and intense tangled memories of family life, this autobiography captures the legendary personality of television host Larry Zolf. Zolf could not be cajoled or cozened, and as this account demonstrates, he had a healthy distrust of those who didn’t drink, laugh, or lust. He regretted little and only ever wanted to keep on talking, and the sound of his voice runs through this book, telling a simple tale of great depth and subtlety. Revealing the phenom often known as “the Schnozz” to be the most personal of journalists and wittiest of astute observers, this history explores the “dialectical dancer” who played backroom crony to Robert Kennedy and taught Pierre Elliott Trudeau to be a stand-up comedian. Additional yarns include how Zolf befriended a KKK sheriff in Mississippi, the time he was beaten about the head with a cane by a one-legged cabinet minister, and how the memorable character sometimes wore a false nose and glasses to press conferences, only so he could take them off and declare, “Here is the nose who knows!”

Larry Zolf is the author of Dance of the Dialectic, Just Watch Me: Remembering Pierre Trudeau, Scorpions for Sale, Survival of the Fattest: An Irreverent View of the Senate, and Zolf. He was one of the original hosts of the controversial current affairs show This Hour Has Seven Days as well as a writer, producer, director, and commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He was a recipient of the Annik Award for his groundbreaking documentary on computers, which was named one of Canada’s best 100 documentaries by the National Film Board. Peter C. Newman is a former writer for the Financial Post, Maclean’s magazine, and the Toronto Star. He is the author of Renegade in Power and the Canadian Establishment series. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.