Peter SMOLLETT

PETER SMOLLETT

Peter Smollett died on February
19, 2017 in Toronto, a week
before his 87th birthday.
   Peter was born on February 26,
1930 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew
up in Far Rockaway, N.Y. He was
the son of David Smollett and
Dawley Smollett (née Levy),
both from Eastern European
Jewish immigrant families.
   At 19 years old, in New York
City, he apprenticed as a film
editor. He continued work in the
New York film industry during
the 1950's and early 1960's,
interrupted by some years
working in Pennsylvania as an
industrial worker and union
organizer. During that period, he
was married to Molly Smollett
(née Hirschenson), and had two
sons, Jeff and Joel.
   In 1966, in New York, he married
Eleanor Wenkart Smollett, a
cultural anthropologist. They
moved to Regina,
Saskatchewan, where both went
to work at the University of
Regina. There they raised their
daughter Rebecca. Their home
there was known for lively
discussions, generous food, and
an overflowing library.
   For nearly two decades at the
University of Regina, Peter
taught innovative courses on the
politics of the mass media,
especially film, and on the
evolution of the role of artists in
society.
   In the 1990's, Peter and Eleanor
retired to Toronto, where Peter
designed and renovated a lovely
small Victorian house. There
they also welcomed a son-in-law
and two grandchildren into their
lives.
   Peter was a lifelong radical, a
trade unionist, civil rights
activist, self-educated person,
reader and polemicist.
   Peter leaves his immediate
family in Toronto: his wife,
Eleanor Wenkart Smollett, and
his daughter, Rebecca Smollett,
son-in-law David Ley, and their
children, Abraham Ley and
Yohanna Ley. As well, he is
survived by his son from his first
marriage, Jeff Smollett; the six
adult children of his late son,
Joel Smollett, and their children;
his sister, Norma Goldwyn,
nephew, Craig Goldwyn with
wife Lou, and niece Ann
Goldwyn with husband Peter.