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Morton Shulman and Saxe family
- Accession Number
- 2011-1-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2011-1-5
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 1.5 m of textual records
- ca 1000 photographs
- Date
- 1900-2000
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of records documenting the life and career of Morton Shulman as well as the Saxe family. Included in the Shulman records are photographs and slides, correspondence, newsletters, scripts for The Shulman Files, biographical material, writings and speeches, political constituency material, promotional literature for his books, diplomas and certificates, event invitations, scrapbooks and newsclippings. The Saxe family records consist of photographs, event invitations, diplomas and certificates and biographical material.
- Custodial History
- Records were in the possession of Dianne Saxe, the daughter of Morton Shulman and the wife of Stewart Saxe.
- Administrative History
- Morton Shulman (1925-2000) was a coroner, an MPP, a physician and an all-around controversial public figure.
- Morton Shulman was born in Toronto April 2, 1925, son of David Shulman (?-1947) and Netty Wintrope Schwartz (1898-1985). He was educated at North Toronto Collegiate and received an MD from the University of Toronto in 1948. On 30 May 1950, Shulman married Gloria Bossin, daughter of Isadore and Lena Bossin. They had two children, Dianne and Jeffrey.
- Shulman began his career by practising medicine and was first appointed to the Coroner's Office in 1952. He became Chief Coroner for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto in 1963. Shulman was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1967 as the NDP MPP for Toronto's High Park riding and was e-elected in 1971. Publicly he called himself a "socialist millionaire" and authored several books on investment strategies, including Anyone Can Make a Million (1966), The Billion Dollar Windfall (1972), and How to Invest and Profit from Inflation (1979). He also wrote The Coroner (1971) and Member of the Legislature (1973). Shulman also wrote a regular column for the Toronto Sun and hosted a television show call The Shulman Files (1976-1983) on City-TV.
- During the 1960s, Shulman's use of the Office of Chief Coroner to lead crusades against the establishment led to his being removed from the position in 1967. A Royal Commission, led by Mr. Justice William Parker, was struck in 1967 to investigate Shulman's allegations that officials in the Attorney-General's Department had suppressed evidence, funds were being wasted, and discrimination influenced appointments of coroners. In 1970, another commission under Mr. Justice Campbell Grant was struck to investigate Shulman's allegations of improper relationships between some employees of the OPP and particular individuals associated with underground criminal activities. Shulman's career as the outspoken Chief Coroner for Metropolitan Toronto was the inspiration for the CBC dramatic television series Wojeck.
- After being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in the early 1980s, Shulman was successful in establishing a business and charitable trust to speed up Health Canada's approval and import of Deprenyl, a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. In recognition of his multi-faceted career and public life of advocacy and generosity, Morton Shulman received the Order of Canada in 1993. He died in Toronto on August 17, 2000. ---------------------------------------------
- Stewart Saxe is the son of Percy Saxe and Bernice Cohen and the grandson of Morris Saxe, who was responsible for the founding of the Jewish Farm School in Georgetown. Stewart Saxe is currently a lawyer and is married to Dianne (Shulman) Saxe, an environmental lawyer and the daughter of Morty and Gloria Shulman.
- Use Conditions
- No publication without donor's approval. Morton Shulman's personal correspondence is closed to researchers. Donor must be contacted prior to viewing.
- Name Access
- Shulman, Morton, 1925-2000
- Source
- Archival Accessions