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ARNOLD KURTZ
Born: Mar 09, 1933
Date of Passing: Jan 16, 2008
Send Flowers to the Family Offer Condolences or MemoryARNOLD KURTZ Arnold Allan Kurtz, known to his friends as Arnie, passed away on January 16, 2008 in London, England after a long illness. He was 74. Born in Winnipeg on March 9, 1933, he attended Aberdeen Elementary, St. John's High and the University of Manitoba. In 1958, he moved to London, England, to attend the London School of Economics and obtain a degree in International Relations. He became a British Citizen in 1981 and remained in London until his death. He was a Lecturer in history, economics and international relations for over 25 years at the Kilburn Polytechnic (now called The College of North West London) until his illness forced him to retire. He was an avid reader and collector of books and music. His main interests included Judaica and the Holocaust, and he did extensive research for a play on the Struma, the then Palestine-bound ship fleeing Nazi-occupied Romania which sank in the Black Sea in 1942. His first love was the world of humour, and he also had an extensive collection of books and recordings on American and British humourists and writers. As one of his many friends said, London remains rich, but there's a huge hole where Arnie used to be. The funeral was held on January 22, 2008, at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, in Golders Green, London, England. He is survived by a sister Minnie Zalik in Winnipeg, and a brother Maurice in Los Angeles, California.
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 26, 2008
Condolences & Memories (2 entries)
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I was lucky enough to have had Arnie Kurtz as my tutor for Liberal Studies in 1983/4 at Kilburn Polytechnic in London. I am very sad to learn that Arnie has passed on. I was about to do a wonderful positive psychology exercise where one writes a letter of appreciation to someone who has had a profound or valuable impact on one's life & then reads it to them. Arnie was the first person that jumped into my mind, because he inspired me to really look at & question the world around me & to live & think in a better way. In retrospect, I can see what a positive impact he had on my life. I am sorry that I was not able to tell him personally but I still wanted to acknowledge here what an amazing & inspiring man he was. I am also going to include him in my dedication at the start of the book that I have just written called "Choosing Happier" (www.choosing-happier.com) in acknowledgment of who he was & how he made a positive impact in my life (& the lives of so many others.) - Posted by: Jem Friar (former student) on: Feb 07, 2017
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I only recently on a trip back to UK, found out he had passed and so had to post this. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This is s 30 year old story here. I was 17 in 1977 at Kilburn Poly doing A'levels. It was one of the best places to go due to majority of overseas thus highly motivated students who wanted to do the A'levels in a year. Arnold taught Liberal Studies, a mandatory subject with no credits attached to it. You can understand how many of us students didn't want to go and resented it. But here's the rub, once we went we were hooked. NEVER had I been engaged in such a lecture. It was not History, Economics etc., he just sat us down and performed on topics of the day - how to study, drugs, racism, mass media, homosexuality.... Can you imagine how strong your game has to be to win over Malaysian account students, Nigerian Banking Students, Radical immigrant students etc? It was a tough crowd I can tell you. Fast Forward to a Decade later after moving to New York and working in performance and education. I realised how incredible a mentor he was to me, out of all the regular lecturers of Math, Psychology etc., I can barely remember what I learnt but Arnold's voice and lines are imprinted in my mind. And now decades later, as I approach retirement having studied in 3 universities in 3 differing countries, he stands out more so the strength of Arnold as a comedian and performer to have engaged my 17 year old mind at that time and leave such a lasting memory. This is especially important as at the time, when in higher education students are increasingly seen as clients and able to drop subjects they feel of no use. I am glad that back in the day at Kilburn Poly there still was that Director Attitude (not to be confused with Dictator Attitude) that said all students will complement their course load with a weekly dose of Arnie Kurtz. Peace Arnie - Posted by: Stacy Hanooman Seecharan (former Student) on: Apr 22, 2014