Family
Rae was born in Ottawa, Ontario. His parents were Lois Esther (George) and Saul Rae, an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva, New York, Mexico, and The Hague. Rae's paternal grandparents immigrated from Scotland, and his mother had English ancestry. Rae was raised as an Anglican (as an adult, he found out that his paternal grandfather was Jewish, and was from a family of Lithuanian immigrants to Scotland).
Rae's brother John is a Vice-President of Power Corporation and a prominent member of the Liberal Party. He was also an adviser to Jean Chrétien from 1993 until Chrétien retired in 2003. Rae's younger brother, David, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1987. Despite a bone marrow transplant from his brother, he died of leukemia in 1989 at age 32.
Rae's sister, Jennifer, worked for many years for the IMAX Corporation but has now retired. She dated Pierre Trudeau for a time in the late 1960s.
Rae learned of his family's Jewish origins in 1968. The revelation had a strong impact on him, he sought to explore his Jewish culture, dated Jewish girls exclusively and ultimately married a Jewish woman. Upon his marriage to Arlene Perly Rae, Rae agreed to raise his children in his wife's Jewish faith. Rae is a member of Holy Blossom Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation in Toronto.
Rae is not related to Kyle Rae, the former Toronto City Councillor for a ward within Bob Rae's current federal riding.
Read more about this topic: Bob Rae
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“A poem is like a person. Though it has a family tree, it is important not because of its ancestors but because of its individuality. The poem, like any human being, is something more than its most complete analysis. Like any human being, it gives a sense of unified individuality which no summary of its qualities can reproduce; and at the same time a sense of variety which is beyond satisfactory final analysis.”
—Donald Stauffer (b. 1930)
“The value of a family is that it cushions and protects while the individual is learning ways of coping. And a supportive social system provides the same kind of cushioning for the family as a whole.”
—Michael W. Yogman, and T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)