Just Lassen to Me! - A First Generation Son's Story

Is it possible to admire a man’s accomplishments but abhor what he stands for, to seek his blessing but spurn his legacy? What if that man is your father?



Twelve years in the making, Harvy Simkovits’s memoir Just Lassen to Me! is a true, enthralling family and family business tale. WWII survivor, escapee from Soviet communism, and Canadian immigrant, Johnny Simkovits, amassed a fortune through hard work, gutsy moves, and devious means. Harvy’s Jewish mother, Anna, hid in Budapest during the war using false Christian papers and had her own unsettling stories of family survival and strife. Their son, Harvy, enticed to follow in his father’s finagling footsteps, works to reconcile, repudiate, and rectify his mom’s painful burdens and dad's dubious legacy. Filled with honest, humor, and humility, this is a son’s story of surviving his turbulent family and survivor father.