A visionary who took no prisoners and a billionaire at least twice over, Izzy Asper ran his empire out of his briefcase. He was constantly in flight and flux, each of his improbable ventures feeding on the next. What made him so special was his ability to create warm, electric moments with his friends and loyalists, while inspiring loathing among his critics and enemies. Asper was always ahead of the pack, creating the country’s largest communications empire while remaining a certified outsider, more feared than loved for besting his peers at their power games.
Peter C. Newman deconstructs the passionate life and turbulent times of the man who once confessed that he didn’t get ulcers, he gave them. Newman dissects Izzy’s feuds and friendships with some of Canada’s most powerful big-league players, including Conrad Black, with whom he frequently and violently jousted. But even as his political and business ventures swirled around him, Izzy would relax by playing jazz piano in lounges, whenever he could get a gig. In Izzy, Newman paints a portrait of a Canadian business tycoon the likes of which this country will never see again.