Ann Diamond

The Man Next Door Ann Diamond

In those days, it was easy to join the revolution. You could sign up on any street corner where you could also find like-minded children with similar weird hair and clothes. I had been in the streets a lot that year, marching for this and shouting slogans against that. The future would sort itself out, as simple as breathing. In 1966, when I was fifteen years old, I saw Leonard Cohen sing The Stranger Song on Canadian television. Not long afterwards, I took the subway downtown and bought a book of his poetry. Magic was afoot.