Blog of Frank Kermit of Frank Talks

Ted Wright

Aug 3, 1949 - Dec 12, 2020

An unsung hero

Written by Mary Lynn Riendeau

My longtime best friend since 1977, Ted was definitely one of a kind. His uniqueness was what I loved most. He dared to be different!

He was infinitely passionate about being an active Good Samaritan, putting much of his energy into doing good deeds for others, especially for those less fortunate. His motto was “do no harm” which he reminded me of often as his highest principle.

I so often saw him helping his neighbors, whether for simple tasks, to help with tenancy issues or to offer his support and mentor ship to troubled youth. His background was wide and varied, a jack of all trades, often tinkering with computers and phone parts. In the 70’s and 80’s he had a landline in each room! He also enjoyed collecting used furniture from neighborhood alleyways, often giving some away to those in need.

In the earlier years knowing Ted, I recall him scouting out scene locations for the local film industry. Later, through his volunteer work with Arnold Bennett at Westmount legal clinic, he quickly became an expert in tenancy law and was hired on with the City of Montreal. He was often approached for interviews on radio and TV to comment on current tenancy issues or new legislation. He was deeply passionate about both tenants and landlord rights and gave away a lot of free advice.

Ted had a natural gift with kids and youth. I recall seeing neighborhood kids waving hi to him around the neighborhood streets and I could not help but notice how much they looked up to him with delight and admiration. He had a positively jovial rapport and playful sense of humor with both young and old alike.

Ted’s challenge with carsickness meant he never drove a car so got around mostly on foot, by bike or transit. I recall many a bus/metro ride where Ted had the whole bus or car in an uproar of laughter with each other and even at themselves. He had a natural talent for imitating various accents and got a kick out of innocently egging me and my other friends on. He seemed to form mini impromptu audiences everywhere he went and left trails of smiles and chuckles. He was a real force for good.

To say Ted was selflessly kind would be an understatement. As a truly loyal friend, Ted was a stabilizing force in my life, always reliable and offering a compassionate ear any time of day or night. He taught me the value of genuine unconditionally loving friendship, demonstrating repeatedly that he always had my back, offering moral support from across the miles to Vancouver where I’ve called home since ‘93.

I consider Ted to have been the greatest influence in my life, acting as a mentor when we first met during my young adulthood at Dawson College, then as a loyal lifelong friend that remained so consistently for the past 43 years.

He modeled kindness and compassion well before it became a catch phrase. He was always friendly toward all people in all walks of life, no matter ethnicity, religion, or economic background. In addition, I certainly have Ted to thank for imparting the skills of critical thinking, ie the importance of always considering all the angles of an argument and being vigilant to back up one’s opinions with solid facts.

Some of my favorite memories of Ted were of strolling the streets of his St. Viateur and Park avenue neighborhood, popping in at the good old bagel factory, Jewish and Greek delis or sitting for hours together in any of the rich array of ethnic restaurants, animatedly discussing social issues, philosophy and current events.

I think what strikes me the most about Ted’s life was that although he may have had many reasons to become jaded by life over time, given the many injustices he witnessed through both his work in rental advocacy and his work with troubled youth (at Operation Tandem run by Montreal police in early 80’s), instead, he was steadfast to his principles and values, always rising above and choosing the high road of respect, integrity and fairness in all his interactions.

Ted often expressed to me his joyful pride in his 3 adopted grand-children, Jennifer, Jessica and Patrick, children of his neighbors of over 20 years, Patrick and Linda Laprade. The serendipity was not lost on Ted when he realized those 20 years ago that his new neighbors included Linda, whom he had witnessed when she was hit by a car at only 7 years old, and had quickly contacted her mother to get her safely to hospital.

Jessica Laprade, Patrick and Linda's 16 year old daughter, recently shared a story of how her and her siblings, when quite young, were all terrified of the dark. So in true Ted fashion, Ted would take them out to walk around the block at night after sunset to practice not being so scared. Of course this was a very popular outing for the kids! They called it “the Night walk”. Ted was incredibly gifted with children and made a huge difference in the Laprades’ life. The family holds many happy memories of laughs and silliness of when Ted would drop in.

Ted was also deeply proud to have acted as a father figure to Priscilla (Patricia) Duarte, whom he mentored and inspired to embark on law studies. She considers him to have been her adopted father ever since the loss of her own biological father as a young teenager. Ted came to the rescue for a lot of people, as I have been finding out just in the past few days since I learned of his passing, including myself all those years ago in ’77.

Since Covid began in March 2020, Patrick had been doing much of Ted’s grocery shopping and delivery right up to these recent months when he was increasingly battling with his health. I know that both myself and his adopted families as well as all his many friends will surely miss Ted and all the kindnesses he extended to us and to his community. He was well loved by many.

Ted’s constant raison d’être was to actively contribute toward a safe and vibrant community. I always admired him for being such a beacon in his neighborhood. Such a great way to be, now more than ever with a growing need and appreciation for collaboration and connection!
Ted, you were a true gem!

May you rest in peace my dear dear friend.

Longtime tenants' rights advocate Ted Wright 'was an unsung hero'

Wright was known for his tireless work in rental law but also as a person who offered guidance to troubled youth in his Montreal community.
Author of the article:
Philip Fine • Special to Montreal Gazette
Publishing date:
Dec 30, 2020

“Can the landlord refuse to sign the lease because of my dog?”
“Do I have the right to keep my apartment after a major renovation?”

Ted Wright heard thousands of questions like these during his lifetime. And thanks to him, Montreal tenants and sometimes even landlords usually received the information they sought.

Wright, a tenants’ rights advocate for 35 years, died on Dec. 12 at the age of 71 from natural causes after decades of living with kidney disease. He dispensed advice from the Westmount Legal Clinic beginning in 1993. Before that, he assisted housing guru and former Montreal city councillor Arnold Bennett for nearly a decade. Wright also hosted the Know Your Rights show on community radio station CINQ and would also regularly field journalists’ calls when vacancy rates were low or a new ruling on damage deposits came up.

Wright was known for his tireless work in rental law but also as a person who offered guidance to troubled youth in his community. From his early days working as a student co-ordinator at Dawson College, where he made sure a student who unknowingly smoked PCP got the help she needed, to organizing a group of Mile End children to paint crosswalks on the street after a fatal car accident killed an elderly resident, Wright was quick to lend a hand when needed.

“He was an unsung hero,” says Mary Lynn Riendeau. She fondly remembers her longtime friend’s love of the electronics that took over his apartment and an insistence that any statements she or anyone made needed to be backed up by facts. But she also notes he was there for any 3 a.m. call. “He was reliable and available.”
Thomas Vincent Edward Wright was born in Toronto on Aug. 3, 1949. He was the second of six children born to Apolonia (née Jaworski) and Charles Edward, better known as Pearl and Ted, and grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Mount Dennis. Educated by Roman Catholic nuns and brothers, he had aspirations of entering the priesthood. However, 11-year-old Teddie’s refusal to give a definitive answer that he could abstain from alcohol until age 21 changed his priest’s mind, and his, that he was man-of-the-cloth material.

After graduating Grade 13, Wright moved to Montreal in 1966 and settled in the Mile End.
Despite his upbringing, he took a secular approach to good works. “From an early age, my brother was socially conscious and with an amazing awareness of the circumstances of others,” says his older sister, Rosemary Wright.
Leonard Yelle, who grew up in the Mile End in the early ’70s, saw that sense of caring in Wright. He says his neighbour gave him and his friends the respect they craved. “We were like street kids, we had long hair and a lot of the neighbours frowned on us. But not Ted.” Yelle, who now has two adult children of his own, credits his friend for helping him stay away from some bad influences in his neighbourhood.
In the ’90s, Wright convinced CINQ to give then-13-year-old Priscilla Duarte her own radio show that would be aimed at teens. While the show lasted only about three years, the two maintained a de facto father-daughter relationship for the rest of his life, Duarte said.

Giving selflessly, listening to teenagers’ problems, and taking photos of kids and giving them to appreciative parents were the types of things that gave Wright a purpose in life, Duarte added. “That’s when he was at his happiest.”

His work with tenants’ rights followed his time at Dawson, as well as a stint tending bar and location scouting for the film industry. It was in the mid-’80s when Bennett, director of the Housing Hotline, received an unsolicited call from Wright to volunteer. A keen learner under Bennett, he became an expert in rental laws, regularly fielding 60 calls a day and working at weekend clinics.
He fought for condo conversion laws that protect tenants on the Island of Montreal and once negotiated for a downtown developer to pay $65,000 to buy an elderly tenant’s lease. “I’ve never seen a settlement like that before or since,” Bennett said.

With Bennett’s blessing, he and colleague Bob Jones started the Westmount Legal Clinic. Upon leaving, he provided the Housing Hotline with “an inch-and-a-half thick” training manual. “He made a major contribution to creating the whole hotline and clinic structure that we set up.”
Wright is survived by his five siblings: Rosemary Wright, Sandra Gilmer, Marlene Matwie, Michael Wright, and Melissa Demchyshen. His friends are looking at naming a park bench in his name and expect to soon launch a GoFundMe page.

If you want to help contribute to the GO FUND ME page for the memorial park bench for Ted Wright, contact Priscilla