Morley Torgov

Background

Morley Torgov was born on December 3, 1927, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, to Allan and Janey Torgov.

Education

Torgov attended the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1950.

Career

Torgov's first book, A Good Place to Come From, is a volume of linked autobiographical sketches. It was released in Canada in 1975 and in the United States in 1986. The book was made into a trilogy of plays by the noted New York playwright Israel Horovitz, but Torgov himself went on to explore the novel form in his writing.

Torgov’s first novel, The Abramsky Variations, was published in 1977. Set in Toronto, the novel explores the personalities, conflicts, and fates of three generations in a family named Brahms (formerly Abramsky). Torgov’s second novel, The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick, came in 1982. It was first conceived as a young-adult book. Torgov’s next novel, 1990’s St. Farb’s Day, dealt both comically and seriously with a middle-aged Jewish Toronto lawyer. His novel The War to End All Wars was published in 1998. Additionally, Torgov has written short stories, articles, and plays that have been produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), including The Builders and When We Go A-Courting.

Torgov is also a contributor to anthologies, including The Spice Box, The Leacock Reader, Mirror of a People, and Thomas Nelson Public School Reader.

Achievements

• Torgov’s second novel, The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick, won the Stephen Leacock Award for Canadian humor in 1975, a prize also garnered by him for the novel A Good Place to Come in 1983. A Good Place to Come From was also adapted as a trilogy of plays titled Growing up Jewish. In 1977, Torgov became a finalist of the Books in Canada First Novel Award for The Abramsky Variations. Torgov was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2015.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Abramsky Variations

    (Three men, three dreams - the result is a pungent affecti...)

    1977
  • A Good Place to Come From 1974
  • Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick 1982
  • The Mastersinger from Minsk 2012
  • Murder in A-Major 2008
  • St. Farb's Day 1990
  • The war to end all wars 1998
  • Stickler and Me 2002

Membership

Torgov is a member of the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists.

Connections

Torgov is married to a woman named Anna-Pearl. The couple has two children - Sarah and Alexander.

Father:

Allan Torgov

Mother:

Janey Torgov

Daughter:

Sarah Torgov

Son:

Alexander Torgov

Wife:

Anna-Pearl Torgov