Mikhail Iossel: Massive Brick

Montreal Gazette Dept: I glance over his head to the massive brick building across Fairmount St. - the original Jewish People's school - and wonder if the old neighbourhood doesn't somehow still exercise a certain magnetism. His is a classic immigrant's tale, held together by a strong thread: writing and writers. An accomplished short story writer, he's also an ace teacher, mentor and entrepreneur, a man driven by an irrepressible urge to construct a world that resembles one vast Arts Caf , according to Montreal Gazette. Once in Boston, broke, with only a reading knowledge of English, he realized his whole life had been built around the dream of leaving, but he had no idea of what to do next. "Let's just say my vague plan of making a living writing in Russian quickly fell through," he sighs and mikhail Iossel is drinking tea at the Arts Caf . He takes a hurried sip, unwilling to interrupt the telling of a long story that must be quick. A small, bulky man with thick dark hair and a poet's beard, he's a perfect fit for Mile End's favourite bohemian hangout, except that his energy level is normal squared. He's just come from somewhere and soon has to be somewhere else. As a teenager in Leningrad, Iossel won an essay contest giving him a place in the university's literature department, until authorities realized he was Jewish. He was told to turn it down, otherwise he would surely fail his exams and be sent straight into the army. So he studied engineering instead, meanwhile pursuing the only exit option open, applying for a visa to join "non-existent" relatives in Israel. After eight years of rejections, he finally got a phone call giving him 24 days to leave. As reported in the news.
@t fairmount st, thick dark hair