North Star with Ellin Bessner Honourable Menschen remembers an enthusiastic eater, a nonagenarian DJ, the Wayne Gretzky of vasectomies, a disability rights fundraiser, and The CJN’s ex-president
This week on The CJN Daily, we brought you an interview with human rights advocate Judy Feld Carr about her decades of work to rescue Syrian Jews. But her husband, Donald Carr, didn’t know the full extent of it—it was only weeks before he died, in November 2024, that she felt safe enough to disclose to him the full extent of her clandestine Syrian missions over the past fifty years. Donald Carr, 96, a prominent lawyer and community leader, was also one of The CJN’s most ardent supporters, acting as a longtime board member. That’s why, on this first Honourable Menschen episode of 2025, obituary columnist Heather Ringel joins host Ellin Bessner to share anecdotes about the life of Carr—and four other prominent Canadian leaders we recently lost. You’ll hear about Dr. Ronald Weiss, 68, of Ottawa, who was nicknamed “the Wayne Gretzky of vasectomies”, having performed a record-breaking 58,789 of them; Michael (Muki) Baum, 64, a Toronto artist who fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of treatment centres for people like him with multiple disabilities; celebrity chef Marty Galin, 74, who created the world’s largest salad; and radio host Ethel Taylor, 99, who started her on-air career at the age of 92.
What we talked about:
- Read Heather Ringel’s tributes to our Honourable Menschen and Women in The CJN: Muki Baum, Dr. Ron Weiss, Donald Carr.
- Learn more about Marty Galin’s life, on Steeles Memorial Chapel.
- Ethel Taylor’s story is on The Bay 88.7 FM website.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Dov Beck-Levine
Support our show
- Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
- Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
- Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)