Before the speeches started at Thursday’s funeral service, before Barry and Honey Sherman’s family took the stage, there was a recital: Each of Us has a Name, by the Israeli poet Zelda.
“Each of us has a name,” Eli Rubenstein, the religious leader of a small Toronto synagogue read aloud, “given by our sins and given by our longing. Each of us has a name given by our enemies and given by our love. Each of us has a name given by our celebrations and given by our work.”
The memorial service, packed with 6,000 people — including some of the most powerful business leaders and politicians in the country, and broadcast live on television — gave the family an opportunity to present the version of their parents’ legacy they want people to remember when they hear their names. Those eulogizing them painted a picture of the couple as generous souls who loved giving their wealth away, Barry concealing a heart full of warmth and love beneath a gruff exterior.
On full display at the Toronto convention centre that hosted the ceremony, in the eulogies from friends and family and in the whispers and demeanour of the mourners, were the grief, anger, fear and confusion that remain in the wake of the Shermans’ sudden, violent deaths.
On stage, the Shermans’ son Jonathon threw barbs at the media for reporting an early theory offered by police sources that the deaths had been either a double suicide or a murder-suicide. The family’s apparent dissatisfaction with the police has led them to embark on their own quest for answers, organizing a parallel private investigation.
The National Post has learned that a second set of autopsies was conducted by a private pathologist before the couple’s burial. The results have not been released, not even to the coroner’s office.
The family has retained a lawyer and a private investigation firm, and family members have taken steps to enhance their personal security. (more...)
The Sherman's, and my, generation was very much shaped by the aftermath of WWII and how it was resolved, or not resolved. The pharmaceutical and other industries were playing fields for much post-war and cold war contention. That contention continues to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment