The Zalman Yanovsky Award

Given For Outstanding Service to Literacy

On the occasion of Kingston Literacy’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, June 16, 2003, and the launch of “The Zalman Yanovsky Award for Outstanding Service to Literacy”

I had the good fortune to join the board of Kingston Literacy in the late 80’s, when many dynamic changes were occurring to the board’s structure and to its goals as an organization. There were big challenges—the biggest challenge being that the government sources of funding seemed to be drying up completely, causing us to search out new ways of getting money—and the dreaded word “fund raising” seemed to appear on our lips far more often than it did ever before.

A good thing about this financial drought was that it also caused us to turn outwards toward the community more than ever before. We needed to more directly appeal to the community for help. But it isn’t easy to raise money for an organization helping primarily disadvantaged adults—the needs of children always seemed to win the hearts and purse strings of people more readily. What to do? How could we reach the community?

Zal at the spelling bee with three little pigs!

Fortunately for us there were already people in the community convinced of the crucial role literacy has to play in Kingston—people with a sense of social justice. And no-one fitted this bill more than Zal Yanovsky. Zal felt that in order to have a healthy and prosperous society, it is just not acceptable to have a large number of your neighbours unable to participate more fully in the community, and in making a life for themselves, because they are experiencing literacy problems. I think Zal was particularly concerned for young people at the beginning of their adult life, at that confusing time when making informed decisions starts to be so important.

Zal came onto the board when Pat Collom was actually President. I had been on the board for a year or so already, and was now the first chair of the newly created Public Awareness committee. This was in 1991, I think. As time went on, I somehow found myself as President, which lasted for about 6-7 years.

Zal made an immediate impact when he joined us. Whether at a board meeting or a committee meeting, instead of there being a circle of sincere, yet nonetheless deadpan faces around the table, there was suddenly this Cheshire cat face in our midst. Zal was this big hearted, generous, often larger than life, presence. He was mostly on task but you could always expect him to, at some point, lean forward and let go in his characteristically loud and enthusiastic style with some “bon mot”—usually some kind of terse observation or pun. It was sometimes his knee jerk reaction to an irresistible opportunity, but sometimes I think it was actually designed to just lighten up the proceedings—a kind of survival mechanism for himself… and for us. His ever-present humour was always appreciated by everyone there and was never insensitively done or inappropriate—bizarre sometimes, yes—but never inappropriate. It was also clear that you could never expect Zal to formally chair a meeting, nor did he seem to be even a bona fide committee member (even though he was nearly always there); instead he was this free spirit. He provided wit yes but also creative insights that pushed us to be outside the box in our thinking. He had a serious commitment to the goals of Kingston Literacy. He helped in whatever ways he could. Once he decided something was worth doing, he showed that he could be relied on 100%.

Zal gave of himself to the advancement of literacy in Kingston on three levels: Two of which were on a public level and one of which was on a personal level.

On the public level, he helped by serving on the board, faithfully attending meetings and helping Kingston Literacy clarify its purpose and establish a vision for promoting literacy in the community.

Also on the public level he helped to steer our fundraising efforts, keeping us realistic and yet creative at the same time. When possible (and which was often) he generously offered the services of Chez Piggy to cater events. Probably one of the most famous and fun events in our fledgling fundraising days was when Zal hosted a special Thai dinner evening at Chez Piggy (I think in October of 1992). And I think it was the first in what was to become a much appreciated series of dinners Zal and Rose hosted to help worthy causes.

Lest we forget, long before the Spelling Bee, there was this thing called the Annual Celebrity Book Auction. This was one of the first of its kind in the area and was our major money maker each year. In its early years, it was a great success and well attended. Zal was a faithful supporter of this event. He could always be counted on to bring as many people as he could. I’ll always remember him sitting in the midst of a large array of personal friends and acquaintances. I sometimes thought that maybe about ¼ of the audience was made up of people Zal had personally rounded up. Reading his auction list like a racing form, he often led the bidding on a wide variety of items. If an item wasn’t garnering enough bids, there was Zal placing a bid, reminding people, by example, that this was a charity auction after all—so get your money out. He wasn’t shy either about puncturing the odd pensive silence with a loud joke or two. I sometimes thought it should have been called Zal’s Annual Celebrity Book Auction.

I also remember him one time at a special cooking demonstration given in a kitchen showroom at one of the strip plazas on Princess St. It was a fundraiser that was designed to be a showcase of Kingston’s chefs. Zal was the first to step up to the plate (so to speak.). People bought tickets to have an evening of instruction on how to create a gourmet meal and then to eat it. Donning an apron and chef’s hat, Zal’s performance made the Iron Chef pale by comparison. He quickly became a whirlwind in the kitchen. There was flour flying everywhere, some of it ending up in his beard. And there seemed to be quite a few liberal dashes of wine added to the mix along the way. Zal was humble about his skills and in his intro, referred to himself as being “little more than a sous chef these days.” But the dish he ended up creating for us was declared by all to be superbly delicious. So, true to form, he made what he was doing seem slapdash, but in fact, I suspect that he knew more than he let on about what he was doing.

We at Kingston Literacy continue to feel so honoured and blessed to have had Zal in our midst. And he didn’t stop his support after he left the board either.

I felt personally blessed that, even after he left, he continued to call me “Prez.” He’d often call out when he saw me, “Hey, how you doin’ Prez?”
 

His commitment to Literacy and to the well-being of his beloved Kingston shall remain a source of constant inspiration to me, and I’m sure to all who knew him. And now with this award that we are formally launching today in his name (The Zalman Yanovsky Award for Outstanding Service to Literacy), future generations of Kingstonians will be encouraged to carry on the work that he was doing. It is an award that will always remind us of Zal the person, but also of what Zal held dear about the development of literacy in our community. It is my hope that all of its recipients will be deeply honoured to have it and that they may even sense a Cheshire smile coming from it ... I’m sure they will.

Thank you.