Brief Bio
Sam Chaiton, 2017
Sam Chaiton is a writer, dancer, entrepreneur and long-time social justice activist. Born and raised in Toronto in 1950, he studied Modern Languages and Literature at the University of Toronto, became interested in modern dance and trained with the Toronto Dance Theatre and Martha Graham. He performed in the early 70s with New York’s Erick Hawkins Dance Company.
In the 1980s, Sam became involved with Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the former Bob Dylan-celebrated American prizefighter serving a triple life sentence for murder. Sam and two members of his chosen communal family moved to New Jersey and investigated Rubin’s case. They worked closely with his New York attorneys on the appeal that succeeded in exonerating the wrongly-convicted Carter.This story, memorialized in a book Sam co-authored with fellow “Canadian” Terry Swinton, Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was published by Penguin Canada in 1991, then updated in 1999, a Globe and Mail bestseller both times. It became an international bestseller with US publication by St. Martin’s Press, UK publication by Simon & Schuster, and translations in Italian, German and Japanese.
The book won the 12th Annual University of Southern California Scripter Award as a basis for Norman Jewison’s Universal Pictures’ film The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington, with Liev Schreiber portraying Sam. The Hurricane was the number one movie in Canada for three consecutive weeks and took in $100 million at the box office worldwide.
Sam is also a playwright. He was awarded grants from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for his play with music, Noah’s Great Rainbow, about the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust. His latest play, It Has To Go To The Finisher, a four-character drama about the same subject matter, awaits production.
Sam recently moved with his partner, Lindy Green, back to the Annex neighbourhood in Toronto where he grew up. Together, they are ardent supporters of the performing and visual arts; Innocence Canada; and equity and access in health care and research. A voracious reader, Sam is also a fitness buff, takes contemporary dance classes, and studies Yiddish language and literature.
Lorem Ipsum is simply
Sam Chaiton, Rubin Carter, Terry Swinton, 1992
The Hurricane movie poster, 1999
Noah’s Great Rainbow, poster, 2009
