SALAH BACHIR: THE FIRST TO LEAVE THE PARTY: My life with ordinary people who happen to be famous

A wonderful and compelling collection of stories from the life of Salah Bachir – philanthropist, art collector, film industry insider – who has won the affection of some of the most famous and creative people of recent times through his sheer joy for life, art, giving back and human interaction.

Salah Bachir’s encounters with stars who have passed through his beloved Toronto over the years begin with a backyard barbecue with Marlon Brando, and he continues to meet with such fascinating and seemingly disparate icons as Muhammad Ali and Liberace, Margaret Atwood and Cesar Chavez, Andy Warhol and Princess Margaret, to name a few. But the real literary coup is that the biggest and brightest star we encounter is the author himself.
Alan Cumming

Salah is the patron saint of all of us who are full of curiosity, hungry for partying, hungry for fun and who won’t stop until all needs are met. His appetite and passion for life are insatiable. Even more impressive is his ability to transform those passions into a better life for others.
Atom Egoyan

Salah Bachir, who immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the 1960s, is a gay activist who has worked in the film world for over four decades. This gave him undeniable access to Hollywood’s biggest stars, but it is Salah’s personal charm and kindness, his philanthropy, his overall style (think hats, scarves, brooches, pearls, diamonds) and his deep involvement in the art world that have made him a friend, companion, confidant and/or lover to so many – including Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Joan Rivers, Mary Tyler Moore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Edward Albee, Orson Welles, Aretha Franklin, Norman Jewison and Elizabeth Taylor – although it is true that Katharine Hepburn once very nicely turned him down.

This wonderful book brings together the personal stories of all of them – some short, some long, some surprising, some juicy, and all fascinating. Through them we get to know Salah, a larger-than-life figure who embodies the many worlds he creates – the kind of person it would be hard to imagine if he didn’t already exist.