Childhood and Early Education
Lou Marinoff was born in Noranda, Quebec. His grandparents had emigrated to Canada from Russia, escaping Tsarist Pogroms, and the Russian Revolution and Civil War. His mother, Rosaline Tafler, was born in Montreal; his father, Julius Marinoff, in Joliet. Julius served with Canadian forces in WWII, and later with the Haganah and Palmach in Israel's War of Independence. He then became a fur-trader and prospector in northern Quebec, relocating his family to Montreal when Lou was two weeks old.
Lou was educated initially at Somerled School, and was accepted to Lower Canada College (LCC) in 1962, where he graduated with a McGill Junior Certificate in 1968. He then spent six months in Israel, on Ulpan at Kibbutz Yiron, and briefly attended McGill University. He graduated from Dawson College in 1972, with a Liberal Arts diploma.
During these formative years, Lou became an athlete, public speaker, folksinger, and poet. He played football, hockey and other sports at LCC, McGill, and Dawson, and was captain of championship football teams at LCC and Dawson College.
During the 1970s, Lou devoted himself primarily to music, studying classical guitar privately with Miguel Garcia and Florence Brown, and later with Peter McCutcheon and Alexander Lagoya at Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He also taught classical guitar during this period, and performed music in a variety of idioms. He recorded his first album of original compositions, Marinoff Ex Machina, with a band of Montreal musician friends, in 1973.
Lou earned a Certificate in Computer Technology at Control Data Institute in 1979-80, and worked as a computer technician for Northern Telecom in 1980-81.
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