Nathan Mayer Eisenberg was a modest, unassuming extrovert, with trademark bushy eyebrows and a trimmed horseshoe moustache that matched a full head of salt and pepper hair. With a warm smile and a twinkle in eyes that were blue, quick, curious and hinted of mischievousness, Nathan immediately put people at ease. They felt they could trust him. They could.
Always dressed in a suit and tie, Nathan appeared taller than his 5‘7“ frame and could melt into very diverse surroundings. Exactly what he preferred. It was an essential ingredient for his being successful. Nathan Mayer Eisenberg was a “fixer “. Someone who helped people deal with problems they were unable to resolve themselves. Almost any problem, and he was good at it. Very good. To the extent he became the go-to guy, to fix things during the 1940s and 50s in Montreal. Want to have someone disappear? Need a gun? Have to dispose of a gun? Require a new name and passport? A cleanup after a particularly messy occurrence? Nathan was your man.
He knew which judge was “stepping out “with his secretary and how to ‘nudge’ him to adjust his rulings. It wasn’t blackmail, simply a discussion between acquaintances generally resulting in everybody being satisfied.
Nathan was acquainted with the various area fire inspectors, and could ensure permits were streamlined through the system. He was friends with Jocko, the head usher at the Montreal Forum and could access tickets for supposedly sold out hockey games. These were just a sample of the important relationships Nathan cultivated. All of them with the potential to bear fruit at some point.
Nathan never felt that he was involved with anything nefarious or criminal. He was simply helping people out of difficult situations. Perhaps he had simply convinced himself of this, and wish was father of the thought. Say something often enough and anyone is capable of integrating it as truth.
It’s important to note that in all of these transactions, Nathan‘s role was to provide a service after the problem had risen. He was never involved in the creation of what may have originated from an unlawful act. A fine point to be sure, but one that assuaged his moral compass. He also insisted on being kept in the dark about the cause of the problem.
Amazing what you could accomplish when you know the right person to call, isn’t it?
Nathan rarely handled these issues personally. He would outsource them and had developed a cadre of reliable contacts who, for a fee, would perform the necessary work. Always to the satisfaction of his clients. Well, there was the one time when he was hired by a disgruntled bettor to teach a lesson to Jack the newsman, who took bets at his corner news stand. Jack had refused to pay off after the client won a bet. It seems that a truck veered onto the sidewalk at Drummond and St Catherine and destroyed his stand, which Jack was not in at the time. Lucky for him. However, the guy who hired Nathan was not completely pleased. He had wanted Jack to suffer as well. The “accident“ was ruled just that – an accident.
