Peter Heywood: Alive and Well

It was in May 1897 that famed American writer, Mark Twain responded to a newspaper report of his passing, by saying: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
Fast forward 121 years, May 2018, and a well-respected businessman in our community, Peter Heywood, wants Montrealers to know the same is true as it relates to him.
“I’m alive and well, ” he told the CONTACT, responding to a rumor running around the community that he has died.
And he points a finger directly at another businessperson on Victoria Avenue, accusing him of being the source of the false news.
When contacted, the local barber was belligerent.
“I would never say anything like that… someone called me and asked if I heard Peter died and I was so shocked that I called ‘Stretch’ (Howard Carr) to ask him if he heard anything. I never said to anyone that Peter died.”
Not long after speaking with him a call came in to the offices of the CONTACT from a woman who lives in Lachine.
“I’m the one who called up Victoria to find out if it was true that Peter died… a church sister called me and told me she heard Peter died so she decided to call me because she knows that I’m on the road, a lot,” she says. “The truth is we love Peter a lot and we were just very concerned… we didn’t want to start any rumors.”
The mistake might have stemmed from an obituary in the newspapers reporting the passing of Peter Anthony Noble who died on April 7, 2018.