Montreal: A bon vivant with a preference for a cigarillo and scotch, Canadian literary giant and acerbic social wit, Mordecai Richler, died in Montreal on the morning of July 3 from complications from cancer. He was 70.

Richler considered himself a literary man and social satirist first and foremost and not a filmmaker, although he worked in film supporting his family over many years in the U.K., U.S. and Canadian industries. His best-known film work includes Joshua Then and Now, an RSL production directed by Ted Kotcheff, adapted from the author’s 1980 novel and showcased at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985, and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), also directed by Kotcheff.

More recently, Richler was working on a screen adaptation of his last novel Barney’s Version in association with Serendipity Point Films of Toronto and producer Robert Lantos. Montreal producer Francine Allaire of Galafilm is developing a feature film adaptation of the Richler novel St. Urbain’s Horseman.

Richler won the Govenor-General’s Award on two occasions, and the coveted Giller Prize, for Barney’s Version, in 1997.

During his career, Richler produced 10 novels, three children’s books including Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang (1975), also adapted to the screen, and a vast collection of essays and journalism.

He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Florence, and five children, Daniel, Noah, Emma, Martha and Jacob. *