Family, friends mourn maverick poet Layton

Legendary bad-boy poet Irving Layton was remembered in Montreal Sunday as a maverick genius by friends and family, who gathered to lay the 93-year-old to rest.

Layton died Jan. 4 at a Montreal residence for seniors; he had been battling Alzheimer's for some time. The author of more than 40 books of poetry and essays is widely considered one of English Canada's pre-eminent poets.

Many of Layton's former students attended the funeral, including Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, media innovator Moses Znaimer and singer and poet Leonard Cohen. They all spoke at the gathering.

"That which Irving loved the best, his work, will survive him, no doubt. Generations to come will learn these verses and they will transcend any positions, any political strategies, any literary strategies. They're here, they're written in stone, and they'll be read for a long, long time," said Cohen in his speech.

Cohen also read from Layton's poem The Graveyard.

The various speakers remembered Layton as a flamboyant, audacious and one-of-a-kind great poet who transformed the Canadian literary landscape.

Layton's daughter hopes his poetry will continue to be taught, studied and prized.

"They ought to read [his poetry] because it shakes things up a lot more than other poets," said Samantha Bernstein. "He ought to be remembered for his love of life, I think, most of all for his tremendous joy in living. He loved to inspire people by his joy."

Laytonwas honoured as a teacher, colleague, mentor, poet and friend a man whose doors were always open to artists and writers. Layton was named to the Order of Canada in 1976.

"He was my wild, peculiar boy." Anna Pottier, Layton's companion

Anna Pottier, his final companion, says she will remember the warmth of his heart.

"He crackled," recalled Pottier. "And he was like a boy. He was my wild, peculiar boy."

Layton spent much of his life battling the British hold on the Canadian literary scene and railing against the status quo. He was known for his provocative and sensual poetry, and also for his brash, larger-than-life public persona.

"Irving Layton felt the injustice around him. His poetry was a means of conveying that message of injustice and of mobilizing us in that struggle, and never to acquiesce in conventional wisdoms of the time or the political correctness that would pass for conventional wisdom but to be a voice for the voiceless," eulogized Cotler.

Layton married five women, each marriage ending in divorce. He leaves four children.