Suzanne Elrod

      Leonard Cohen conheceu Suzanne Elrod  em Manhattan, num dos  elevadores do Chelsea Hotel, “He was going in, I was going out” recorda Suzanne Elrod. “Eu tinha 19 anos e aceitei ir viver com ele no apartamento, mantendo os dois uma vida cultural muito elevada entre escritores, pintores e filósofos. Ele tinha um jeito especial para contemplar e meditar as conversas, as pessoas, os lugares e até fazia isso comigo. Olhava-me "como Abraão olhava Sarah“ e ficava à espera de um milagre de luz. Lia Layton, Whitman, Lorca e frequentemente regressava a Montreal para estar com a mãe "She was his most dreamy spiritual influence," recordou Suzanne. “The only thing that bothered me was that she always called me Marianne."

      Suzanne recorda, ainda "We admired the wild peacocks, listened to the stream in the morning, watched the sunset in the evening. I was devoted to him. As long as someone like him was in the universe, it was okay for me to be here. I was walking on tiptoe - anything for the poet. Our relationship was like a spider web. Very complicated.", "Leonard is the most responsible human being imaginable. He’s always been there for the children.", "I always felt married."

      Embora Cohen tivesse oferecido a Suzanne "a filigreed Jewish wedding ring" a união matrimonial nunca chegou a ser formalizada. A mãe acabou por morrer e os dois separaram-se em 1978. Ela acabou por ir viver para Avignon, em França, com os dois filhos Adam e Lorca e vive agora (2016), em Paris. "I believed in him," disse ela "He had moved people in the right direction, toward gentleness. But then I became very alone - the proof of the poetry just wasn’t there." 

      Suzanne confessou, que quando a Lorca lhe confirmou o falecimento de Leonard, começou a chorar e foi assim até ao aeroporto.