Features
Rosie Sharp: wife of Four Seasons Hotels founder Issy Sharp lays it all out in her memoir
By BERNIE BELLAN I’m not much for reading autobiographies; I prefer to read someone else’s account of a person’s life because I figure you’re much more likely to find out what someone’s life was truly like when it was written by someone else – warts and all.
However, when I was asked whether I might like to receive an advance copy of the memoir of Rosalie Sharp whose name, to be honest, was unfamiliar to me – but who, I was informed, was the wife of Four Seasons Hotel founder Isadore Sharp – I thought: Sure, it’s always interesting to read of the lives of the rich and famous – and when they’re Jewish and Canadian to boot, let’s go for it.
Now, to be even more honest, as much as I’ve heard plenty about Four Seasons hotels – that they set the standard for service and luxury when it comes to hotels, I had never read much about Isadore Sharp. How much would his wife want to talk about her husband in her memoir, I wondered? And how good a writer would she be?
The answer to the first question is: Quite a bit, while the answer to the second question is that Rosalie Sharp is an excellent writer. No doubt she received quite a bit of help in putting together this very interesting book but, as she explains early on, she has written quite a few books previously, mostly having to do with interior design – which is one of her two utmost passions – the other being painting.
What surprised me most about Rosalie Sharp though is how much her formative years as a young girl in Toronto still leave a strong imprint on her, even today, as she must now be 87. (She completed the book in 2021 when she was 86, she explains.) Isadore, by the way, is 91. They’re both as healthy as one could hope two seniors in their dotage could be expected to be. As a matter of fact, “Rosie”, as she prefers to be known, is quite candid in describing her own health situation. At one point she tells a funny story about having a colonoscopy recently, but while she is driving home in Issie’s fancy Mercedes, she can’t hold it in. She goes on to tell how she hid her accident from Issie when she came home, stripping off her dress without him seeing and running out to the car with a pail of soap and water and cleaning up.
The book is full of interesting stories. Rosie (née Wise) grew up in a very poor household in the 1930s – where there was no telephone, but where the phone book served as a substitute for toilet paper. Her parents lived in a non-Jewish area of Toronto, where they ran a dry goods store. Mr. Wise was also an excellent tailor. As for Mrs. Wise, however, Rosie still has an aversion to soup, she explains, after having grown up smelling her mother’s absolutely horrible broth – which she could never bring herself to taste.
Although the book devotes a certain amount of space to describing Issy Sharp’s much more comfortable upbringing – which Rosie writes about in an early chapter, prior to going into detail about her own much more difficult childhood, the lesson that one takes from reading about young Issy is how brimming with confidence he was, even at a very young age. Not only that, he was extremely good looking – as the very many photographs interspersed throughout the book illustrate.
He was also a terrific athlete. Issy was gifted in so many sports, while Rosie never had the opportunity to take piano lessons, which she so desperately wanted to take as a youngster. She also never learned to swim, she admits, but that didn’t stop her from being a sport and donning a life jacket while going on a canoe trip with the family once – or even waterskiing.
The story how Issy and Rosie met at a wedding makes for a great romantic tale. But Rosie admits that she knew of Issy’s reputation as a consummate ladies’ man – and she honestly doubted that he would remain true to her once they became a couple. There are quite a few instances in the book when Rosie describes her own naiveté about sex – something with which Issy was extremely well versed. (He was 22 when they met; she was 17.) Yet, he was always extremely considerate toward Rosie when it came to the physical side of their relationship. She does reveal though that she became pregnant when she was only 19 and did have an abortion because neither she nor Issy were ready to start a family at that point.
While the book does a good job of delving into how Issy Sharp was an absolute genius when it came to building – not just hotels, but apartment blocks as well, to the point where, as of the date of publication of the book, there are now 134 Four Seasons hotels throughout the world, it wasn’t the pursuit of riches that drove Issy, according to Rosie. They have certainly led very comfortable lives, but the first five years of their marriage were spent living in a very humble apartment, she says, and although they’ve moved several times during their lifetime together, it’s been the building and decorating of homes that has been the attraction for them, rather than the accumulation of “toys.”
In fact, Rosie never cared much about things like cars, she says. In one amusing anecdote she describes her driving in what she thought was a Toyota Land Cruiser for years, only to discover that it had a Volvo logo in it. As a collector though, Rosie has been obsessed with the accumulation of ceramic figures, along with a certain number of paintings, she notes – but it’s her ceramic figure collection, which extends into the thousands, of which she’s proudest.
Early on in life Rosie exhibited true artistic talent. She tells of drawing hand lettered signs for her parents’ dry good store that were so well done that people seeing them thought they had been printed by a machine. Later she parlayed her artistic eye into a love for interior design. Even while she was raising four young boys, Issy encouraged her to acquire a formal education in interior design, which she did. She eventually opened her own interior design firm. Much of her work, as one might expect, was for Four Seasons hotels, but she wasn’t given the work simply because she was married to the boss. Issy pays full credit to the many innovations Rosie introduced into the hotels over the years.
At times though, I must admit I was somewhat bored reading Rosie’s quite detailed descriptions of her projects. While she is certainly extremely descriptive, I’m not sure how much readers really care to read about design – whether it be interior design or the design of ceramic objects. Of course, those are both two of Rosie’s passions – and she is allowed to indulge herself as much as she likes. It’s her memoir, after all.
Where I think Jewish readers of a certain age will find this book most resonating though is when Rosie writes about the many relatives she lost in the Holocaust. There is a great amount of time spent exploring the lives of her predecessors in Poland. Rosie can trace her family roots back to the 1700s. (She also does quite a bit of the same for the Sharp family.)
Both she and Issy grew up in Yiddish-speaking households and Rosie harbours a great deal of nostalgia for those early years. Like most Jews growing up in the 1930s the Wise household was an observant home. (She tells a hilarious story about being sent to a butcher a long way off to buy a chicken for the Friday night dinner, but having the bloody chicken, freshly slaughtered, ooze all over her on the bus ride home.) She also emphasizes how important having regular Shabbat dinners with their family has been for both her and Issy throughout their lives – only to see that disrupted when Covid hit. (As a matter of fact, it was Covid that led to her writing this book, as she found that she had quite a bit more time on her hands than would normally have been the course.) In a departure from her observant upbringing though, Rosie says the only time she sets foot in a synagogue nowadays is during Yom Kippur – and that she doesn’t believe in God.
Interestingly, while Rosie acknowledges the role she’s played for years as the wife of a charming and brilliantly successful businessman, accompanying him on many trips to far off lands where it was her duty to sit through endless dinners with some of the world’s most powerful figures (including one ghastly dinner in Japan where she says the fish that was served was still wriggling!), Rosie hardly sees herself as a society maven. She did her duty – and often contributed to the success of Four Seasons on her own, both as a designer and as the gracious wife of a very powerful man, yet she notes over and over again that she feels most at home in her own house – and there have been many different ones over the years, including a home that they rebuilt from scratch in Palm Springs.
Here’s a description of Issie and Rosie’s harmonious relationship, as given by their son Tony on the occasion of their 62nd wedding anniversary:
“She paints. He promotes. They are full-fledged partners in life.
“Partners in bridge: she is the one who takes the risks and swings for the fences, and he plays more by the book and the percentages, yet rarely an argument, and they regularly place near the top.
“Partners in design…not the least of which is their new bungalow, where our dad concerned himself with light, views, and land assembly, and our mom, the architecture, interior design…Partners in dance. and, can they dance! Partners in fitness – still following Jane Fonda’s Advanced Workout from 1985…
“Partners in philanthropy. Including what our mother considers one of our father’s best achievements: establishing the Terry Fox Run. Proposed in a telegram from our dad to Terry, the run is now the largest single-day fundraising event in the world, having raised $750 million for cancer research.
“And of course, partners as parents. Sharing and living the values that have guided us as a family, and for which we are grateful.”
By this time, if you’ve read this far, you must be thinking: What a perfect couple – and I’m sure they are, but if I could ask two questions of Rosie, they would be this:
You had a son named Chris who died tragically at only age 17 when a melanoma was improperly diagnosed by a doctor. You write so eloquently of what that loss meant to the two of you – as I’m sure it would to any other parents who have lost a child.
But – why “Chris?” I know that it’s not totally unheard of for a Jewish child to be named Chris or Kristina, although from what I’ve read, it’s often when one of the parents isn’t Jewish. But both you and Issy came from traditional Jewish upbringings. Was there a particular reason that you chose to name your youngest son “Chris?”
And, my second question: I had to do some research to see that you and Issy have contributed substantially to many different causes, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But nowhere in your book do I see any evidence that you took a particular interest in philanthropy yourself, especially as it relates to Jewish causes. I would imagine that someone of your renown would have been asked many times to lend their name to a particular Jewish fund-raiser. Perhaps it wasn’t of sufficient interest for you to write about that – or maybe it just wasn’t your thing. But, as someone who espouses the importance of Jewish values so strongly, wouldn’t “tzedakkah” have been one of the most important values? I’m not saying this as a criticism because I see that when you do a search of all the causes to which you and Issy have contributed, the list is a lengthy one. But I’m somewhat puzzled that, other than the Terry Fox Run, there’s no mention of any other cause to which you might have attached yourselves. After all, Issy is worth over $500 million from what I’ve read (while the Four Season hotel chain, which is now owned primarily by Bill Gates – is valued at over $10 billion).
Still, let’ s not let these fairly petty questions detract from what is, on the whole, quite the entertaining read.
“Me & Issy – A Four Seasons Romance”
By Rosalie Wise Sharp
Published by ECW Press, Toronto, 2022
274 pages
Available in both print and Kindle editions
Features
Understanding the Differences Between Online Poker Cash Games and Tournaments
A USD $50 poker buy-in can mean two different things. At a cash table, it becomes USD $50 in chips. In a tournament, it pays for entry to an event with its own starting stack and prize structure.
The cards and hand rankings may be familiar in both settings, but the way play unfolds changes. Cash players choose when to leave. Tournament entrants follow a schedule of rising blinds and eliminations. Understanding how those pieces fit together makes the differences easier to follow.
1. How the Table and the Event Work
Cash tables run as players arrive and depart. Each table has published stakes and buy-in limits, and an available seat allows someone to join the game already underway. The lineup can change several times during a session.
Tournaments bring players into a shared competition. Scheduled events have an advertised starting time; Sit & Go tournaments begin when the required seats fill. Standard entrants receive the same starting chip allocation.
As players lose their stacks, the field shrinks. In conventional multi-table events, the software moves players to balance tables, then combines the remaining players at a final table. The event’s rules determine any opportunity to return after elimination.
2. What the Entry Payment Covers
For readers learning about real money poker at 888poker, the buy-in is a useful place to start: its role changes with the format.
Cash players choose an amount within the table’s minimum and maximum. At hypothetical USD $0.25/$0.50 stakes, a USD $50 stack equals 100 big blinds. Only the chips held at the start of a hand are available to wager during it; additional purchases apply to later hands.
Tournament prices commonly include a prize-pool contribution and an operator fee. An entry displayed as USD $10 + $1 would cost USD $11, with USD $10 going toward prizes. The starting stack is listed separately.
Further spending depends on the rules. Cash players can reload within table limits. A freezeout tournament permits one entry, while rebuy events allow additional chips under stated conditions. Re-entry allows a fresh entry after elimination during the permitted window.
Cash-game fees also work differently: rake is commonly taken from eligible pots, while tournament fees are paid at registration.
3. What the Chips Are Worth
Cash chips keep their monetary value throughout play. Someone who buys in once for USD $50 and leaves with USD $65 has gained USD $15. Their remaining table balance returns to their account when they leave.
Tournament chips track progress through the event. A hypothetical USD $11 entry might provide 10,000 chips, while the payout schedule sets the money awarded for finishing positions.
In a standard elimination tournament, the winner finishes with all the competition chips, while prize money is distributed according to the published payout schedule.
Some events have a different endpoint. A satellite awarding equal-value entries to another tournament can finish when the remaining players have all qualified. Its structure sets how many entries are available.
4. How Rising Blinds Change a Stack
Blinds are compulsory bets that begin the action. At a cash table, their amounts stay fixed at the published stakes.
Tournament blinds rise through scheduled levels. That changes the weight of every stack, even when its chip count stays the same.
Take 10,000 chips. With a big blind of 100, the stack represents 100 big blinds. When the big blind reaches 200, it represents 50. At 500, it represents 20. The compulsory bets now consume a larger share of those chips.
The length of each level helps set the pace. Turbo and hyper-turbo events use faster increases, while the tournament’s published details specify the starting stack, level timing and any antes, additional compulsory bets. Those details explain how conditions will change as play continues.
5. When a Session Ends
Cash players can finish a hand and leave with their remaining balance. Their session ends while the table carries on.
A tournament entrant stays involved until elimination or the event’s conclusion under its rules. Some tournaments take several hours, so the time needed depends partly on how far someone progresses.
Scheduled breaks offer pauses. During active play, sitting out allows applicable blinds and antes to keep reducing an absent player’s stack. Leaving the screen therefore has consequences for their place in the event.
Spending and time belong in the same calculation. Responsible gaming means setting limits for both, including possible reloads or re-entries in the spending limit, and meeting local age and location requirements.
Checking entry rules, blind levels and the break schedule gives readers a clearer picture of the commitment behind a tournament listing. For cash tables, the key details are the stakes, buy-in limits and fees, alongside the freedom to end a session between hands.
Features
Embracing Your Femininity in Kislev
By ELENA KNIGHT Rosh Chodesh Sameach! Today is the start of Kislev, when we celebrate the eternal power of light over darkness through Hanukkah, we reflect on our dreams, and, through the month’s connection to the Tribe of Benjamin, we embrace our orderly and honourable side.
Hanukkah is the main feature of Kislev, the holiday when we commemorate the Maccabean Revolt against the Greeks when the Jews regained control over Jerusalem and when we celebrate the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. This miracle connects with femininity because we women are quite used to pulling things together when it seems like we don’t have it all; how often are we stuck grabbing our shoes as we run out the door, putting makeup on in the car, fixing our hair in the window reflection before we walk into work, and then walking in looking like we had an uninterrupted hour to get ready that morning? Not to mention all of the incredibly strong women who do all this between daycare or school drop-off, reviewing notes from meetings at hockey practice or taking a work call during the drive to a dance competition. The light that burned for eight days when there was only enough for one is a lot like the women who do eight days’ worth of work in just 24 hours.
Looking at the symbolism of light overcoming darkness, we can bring this into our daily lives this month by making this miracle and others public. How often do we do things without asking for any recognition? I say let’s quit that. Let people know when you succeed! It was amazing that you got on the Dean’s List at your university, so tell your friends! Tell your coworkers you got the promotion you’ve been working for! Tell your in-laws that you got the
new job! Publicize your own miracles just like we publicize the Hanukkah miracles by putting our Hanukkiot in the window.
Kislev is called the month of dreams; almost all of the major dreams in Genesis are read in this month’s Torah portions, and Joseph, master of dreams and interpreter of visions, takes centre stage this month. The Talmud teaches that dreams are one sixtieth of prophecy, and since the nights are so long this time of year, now is the time when the inner world, contemplation, and spiritual intuition can be deepened. A great way to connect to the dreamy nature of Kislev could be to keep a dream journal, and take some time to reflect on your dreams. There are many ways dreams can be interpreted, and so many tools to interpret dreams are available in books or online! Common dream symbols are flying (symbolizing freedom or a desire to escape pressure), water (representing your emotional state), and falling (symbolizing a loss of control or feeling ungrounded), and there are thousands of ways that you can use dream interpretation to better connect to your inner world and spiritual life.
This month is associated with the Tribe of Benjamin, which is known for its militarism, bravery, and skill in battle. For us women in the modern day, we can take the militaristic nature of the Tribe and interpret it through adding more order to our daily lives and honour to our personal behaviour. This may be creating a better night routine to support a more consistent sleep schedule or actually taking a full lunch break without any work. Whatever order your life needs, this month would be the perfect time to do it; channel your inner Benjaminite! Adding honour to your personal life can be done through keeping commitments–I recommend a detailed online calendar and to-do list–treating everyone with dignity, keeping your composure in hard moments, and owning your mistakes without shifting the blame. Though these seem like simple tasks, they can be pretty hard to implement when we are faced with tough situations. But what
are we facing in our lives that is as hard as a bunch of Greeks taking over our homeland? Let’s be like the Maccabees this Kislev and face challenges with bravery, knowing that bringing light into our lives will always beat the darkness that tries to sneak up behind us.
Features
Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Prediction: NBA Preview at Scotiabank Arena
The Toronto Raptors host the Boston Celtics tomorrow at Scotiabank Arena, where they’ll try to end a five-game losing streak against their Atlantic Division rivals. They’ll have a rest advantage. Boston plays in Philadelphia on Tuesday before travelling to Toronto, while the Raptors have a day off between home games.
The Raptors vs Celtics prediction comes down to whether Toronto can turn that extra rest into easier baskets. RJ Barrett can attack before Boston’s defence sets, but Jayson Tatum and Paul George give the Celtics two reliable scorers if the game slows in the fourth quarter.
Raptors vs Celtics Date, Tip-Off Time and Where to Watch in Canada
| Game details | Nov. 11 matchup |
| Date | Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 7 p.m. ET |
| Venue | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto |
| Canadian broadcast | TSN and TSN+ |
Wednesday is the middle game of a busy stretch for Toronto. The Raptors hosted Memphis on Monday and visit Philadelphia on Thursday. For Boston, the 7 p.m. ET start comes less than 24 hours after its scheduled tip-off against the 76ers.
Recent Form for the Raptors and Celtics
Boston improved to 8–2 with a 117–97 win in Milwaukee on Sunday, its third straight victory. George scored 27 points, and Tatum had 21 points and six assists. The Celtics had also beaten the Bucks 109–102 at home four nights earlier, then won 119–80 in Charlotte in NBA Cup play.
Toronto entered Monday’s game against Memphis at 5–4. Its four-game road trip ended Friday with a 121–107 NBA Cup win in Milwaukee after a 128–109 loss in Denver. Barrett and Alijah Martin each scored 27 points against the Bucks, and Barrett went 9-for-11 from the line. That gave the Raptors a way to score even though Barrett missed all four of his three-point attempts.
Raptors vs Celtics Head-to-Head Record
The Celtics swept the 2025–26 season series 4–0 and have won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings. They took both games at Scotiabank Arena last season, 121–113 and 112–96. Across the last five meetings, Boston won all of them, averaging 13.8 made threes and winning by 11.2 points.
George arrived in the trade that sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia, and Boston added Mitchell Robinson at centre. Last season’s results show how consistently Boston controlled the matchup. Wednesday will test whether Toronto can put more pressure on this Celtics rotation early in the shot clock.
Toronto Raptors Injury Report and Lineup Outlook
Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley missed Friday’s game in Milwaukee. Toronto listed Barnes as questionable for Monday’s game in Memphis with a left groin strain and gave Quickley the same designation for right hamstring tightness. Kawhi Leonard was out for left knee injury management. The next game-specific report will give a clearer picture of who can play Wednesday.
Barnes has the size to defend Tatum without an immediate double-team. Quickley’s status matters at the other end. With him available, Barrett can spend more possessions catching on the move. If Quickley sits, Jamal Shead can initiate the offence and take some of that ball-handling work.
Key Player Matchups for Jayson Tatum and RJ Barrett
Tatum averaged 27.1 points and 7.8 assists through Sunday. When he drives, Toronto’s first decision is how far to bring help off Boston’s shooters. An early rotation can close off his path to the rim, but it also gives George or Derrick White a pass on the perimeter. Toronto’s chances improve if its primary defender can stay in front for longer.
Barrett averaged 21.6 points through Friday. A high screen can give him room to turn the corner before Boston gets a second defender into position. If the Celtics switch a bigger defender onto him, Barrett can try to beat the switch with his first step. His free-throw attempts will offer an early clue as to how much pressure he’s putting on the rim.
Toronto averaged 17.6 fast-break points through Friday, among the league’s best marks. That’s one reason to watch how Toronto gets its first few shots. Barrett attacking a retreating defence suits Toronto better than driving through two defenders late in the clock.
Jakob Poeltl, Mitchell Robinson and the Battle in the Paint
Toronto has outscored Boston in the paint in three of their last four meetings at Scotiabank Arena. The question is whether the Raptors can pair that inside scoring with enough defensive rebounds to get out in transition.
If Poeltl and Robinson share the floor, their positioning on shots could matter as much as their work around the rim. When Poeltl keeps Robinson off the offensive glass, Toronto’s guards can get a head start up the floor. A Boston offensive rebound forces those same guards to find their shooters again.
Robinson can also screen for Tatum. If Poeltl drops towards the rim, Tatum can pull up from the middle of the floor. If Poeltl steps out, the far-side defender has to pick up Robinson as he rolls to the basket
Raptors vs Celtics Betting Odds & Key Markets
Bettors can follow the NBA sportsbook on Stake for the latest Raptors vs Celtics odds, including moneyline, point spread and total points, among others.
Moneyline
The moneyline covers the outright winner, including overtime. Boston is the lean here. Tatum and George give the Celtics two ways to create a shot late in a close game, and either can keep the offence moving if Toronto takes away the first option.
Point Spread
Toronto’s extra day of rest matters when assessing the margin. If the Raptors secure defensive rebounds and turn them into early offence, they can stay close even if Boston controls more of the half-court game. Toronto’s margin on the spread will depend on the posted handicap.
Total Points (Over/Under)
Boston’s five games through Sunday averaged 206.2 combined points. Toronto’s five through Friday averaged 239.8. Those samples give some context for the total. If Toronto can run off misses and get Barrett to the line, the game could be more open. If Boston keeps it in the half court, both teams may have fewer possessions.
Player Props
Tatum’s assists and Barrett’s points are two markets to look for. If Toronto sends help into the lane, Tatum will have perimeter passing options. Barrett’s scoring outlook depends on whether he can get downhill against Boston’s bigger defenders and draw fouls as he did in Milwaukee.
Raptors vs Celtics Prediction and Game Pick
Toronto has the home crowd and enough scoring options to stay in the game, but Boston has the better record, last season’s sweep and Tatum’s star power. The back-to-back is the main reason to expect a close fight.
The recommended pick is the Boston Celtics to win. Canadian fans who want to follow the NBA with Stake can use its live markets and in-play options. Always gamble responsibly and within the legal age in your province.
