Leonard Cohen spent much of his adult life in places other than Montreal, but the city where he was born and raised was always close to his heart.

He lived for years on the Greek island of Hydra, notably with his great love Marianne Ihlen of So Long, Marianne fame, and he had a home for decades in Los Angeles, which is where he died on Nov. 7, 2016.

But he never really left Montreal. He bought a triplex facing Parc du Portugal just off of St-Laurent Blvd. near Marie-Anne St. — of course! — in the early 1970s, and he was often there. So many Montrealers have stories of meeting him at Bagel Etc. across the street or on the Main.

I met him in that spartanly furnished house in December 1992 a few days after the release of his classic album The Future. We had a memorable chat that was interrupted at one point when the actress Rebecca De Mornay, his partner at the time, strolled into the kitchen to fix herself a bagel and cream cheese.

Leonard’s son Adam Cohen is staying at his dad’s Montreal home this week preparing for a series of tribute concerts to Leonard, including two nights at Théâtre St-Denis on Nov. 4 and 5. He is also performing the show Monday in Quebec City and Nov. 7 in Toronto. The Toronto date will also include appearances by Rufus Wainwright, Feist and Serena Ryder. Adam is doing all the shows accompanied by his 19-year-old son Cassius Cohen.

In a phone conversation from his father’s Plateau-Mont-Royal home a few days ago, Adam said Leonard always cared deeply about Montreal and had been planning to move back here around 20 years ago. He had to scuttle those plans when he discovered in 2005 that his manager Kelley Lynch had embezzled more than $5 million from him.

Cohen, who was 71 at the time, decided to return to touring to make back that money and embarked on a series of world tours beginning in 2008. In the end, he never did move back to Montreal.

“It’s pretty well known that he was suspicious of anyone who didn’t like Montreal,” said Adam. “He was an incredible ambassador for Canada and for Montreal in particular everywhere he went. He was considering........

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