A newspaper obit called his wit ”Wildean.” I reviewed his last three books for the Globe and Mail and I said he was Canada’s answer to Oscar Wilde. He is well represented in John Robert Columbo’s The Canadian Book of Quotations. I just checked and here are a few/couple? More.

“Women who are hardy enough to marry a second time generally do so for companionship or a tax shelter.”

“If you want good service avoid restaurants with red checked tablecloths.”

“Nobody brings out your shortcomings more quickly than a member of your own family.”

“Hummus: the peanut butter of the intelligentsia.”

“A little learning is a boring thing.”

They’re like potato chips; you just want to go on picking them up.

Well, one more:

“ A woman generally becomes a blonde because there is no man in her life or there is and he is younger.”

Mostly the observations are home truths but his economy in the wording makes them quotable. He was, in fact, an accurate reporter of the Montreal society of his time, and an impeccable arbiter of women’s dress, especially their shoes.

Women liked him. That’s why I wanted to review his books. He had a fan following of mature women like me who enjoyed his wit, wisdom and sensitivity —deeper than immediately apparent.