Educator, poet, columnist.
Born at Winnipeg on 4 April 1937 to Rebecca Edberg (?-1979 ) and Samuel Geller (1895-1950), he grew up in the North End and even as a child had a great love of literature and language. He eventually spoke at least six languages fluently. He joined Hashomer Hatzair, a Jewish youth movement, and at the age of 16 went to Israel to live on a kibbutz.
Upon his return to Winnipeg a few years later, he began his studies in the English Department at the University of Manitoba, where he earned the degrees of BA Honours and BEd. Later, he received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
In 1969, he married Bonnie Kesten and they went on to have three children. Both became teachers and taught throughout Canada and Israel. He was also a gifted writer. His poetry was published in many quarterlies and he published a book of poems, Apples, Walnuts and Wine (Queenston House, 1980), which was a poetic memoir of the Jewish North End of his youth.
He wrote a weekly column called “Word Wise” in the Winnipeg Free Press (1970-1977), in which he was given free reign to expound on his interest in etymology. He wrote a science column for the Ottawa Citizen and contributed weekly spots about science for CBC Ottawa. He also appeared many times on CBC radio, including presenting a 12-week series on “This Country in the Morning” about the history of the English language. Deeply spiritual, he studied the Kabbalah and the Zohar.
He died at Winnipeg on 21 January 2005 and was buried in the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 29 January 2005.
Larry Joseph Geller, Geller Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 9 January 2022
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