> Zed Book Club / Monika Schnarre on a Cancer Memoir, a Novel About Ancient Judaism and Barack Obama
Canadian Supermodel Monica Schnarre is an avid reader, and her -all-time favourite book is the historical novel "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant. Photo: Helen Tansey
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Monika Schnarre on a Cancer Memoir, a Novel About Ancient Judaism and Barack Obama
Canada's original supermodel says the personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad completely changed her perspective on business / BY Shinan Govani / July 30th, 2021
She has been on plenty of covers, but likes nothing better than to be lost between them. Serial reader Monika Schnarre burst into the spotlight in 1986 when she won the “Ford Supermodel of the World” competition at 14. A year later, she was on the cover of American Vogue – to this day, she and Brooke Shields are the magazine’s youngest models ever – and she’s been photographed by all-time greats like Richard Avedon and Steven Meisel. At 18, the Scarborough native moved to Los Angeles to work as an actress, and appeared in the Aaron Spelling teen drama, 90210, and The Bold and the Beautiful. After studying journalism at UCLA, she worked as a TV correspondent.
Now 50, Schnarre is raising her son, running her anti-aging beauty line, iampure, and renovating and flipping properties.
What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
Between Two Kingdoms by U.S. journalist Suleika Jaouad. Jarring and memorable – this book about her cancer diagnosis and recovery stayed with me for a long time.
What book can’t you wait to dive into?
Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey. Trethewey is the former U.S. poet laureate who recounts vividly her childhood and the murder of her mother by her stepfather.
What’s your favourite book of all time?
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. This historical novel is a first-person narrative look at ancient Judaism from the female perspective.
What book completely changed your perspective?
The personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert Kiyosaki. People assume I’ve made a living from modelling – in actuality, it has been from investing in real estate.
If you could have dinner with any author, living or dead, who would it be?
Former U.S. President Barack Obama.