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| Born | Gerald Barry Falovitch (1948-01-29) 29 January 1948 (age 76) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation(s) | Former musician, founder and CEO of VitaPro |
| Spouse | Yvette Barry |
Yank Barry (born in 1948 as Gerald Barry Falovich) is a Canadian musician and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of VitaPro Foods, a company that makes textured vegetable protein for use as a meat substitute and another venture called ProPectin.
Early life
Barry was born in Montreal, Canada in 1948 to Arthur Falovitch and Ruth (née Reznick) Falovitch-Pickholtz. He grew up in the Jewish community of Montreal and has five siblings.
Musical career
Barry was singer and bass player of a band called The Footprints during 1966–1968. The band released three singles through Columbia and Capitol Records before disbanding.
Between 1968 and 1970, Barry was the lead singer of a band that toured the East Coast as The Kingsmen and played the Kingsmen's music. This version of the band was put together by the Kingsmen management, who believed they owned the rights to the name, and toured until the group was disbanded after a cease and desist order was filed by the original group of that name.
In 1972, Barry ran a record company financed by John Royden McConnell.
Barry wrote the song "Christmas Time Again" that was performed by Engelbert Humperdinck on his 1977 album Christmas Tyme.
In 1979, he produced performances of the 1974 explicit musical play Let My People Come, in Montreal.
Court cases
In 1982 Barry was convicted of extortion from and conspiracy against John Royden McConnell, and served 10 months of a 6 year prison term.
In a 1982 civil case, a separate court ruled that Barry had extorted money from McConnell in record company dealings, requiring a financial award of C$285,000. In 1987 he declared bankruptcy, voiding the award. Barry said in an October 2013 Larry King interview that he had been a cocaine-addicted, 20-something rocker at the time and credited the extortion conviction for changing his personal life.
In 1998, Barry was indicted on corruption charges related to VitaPro sales to Texas prisons. After a trial in 2001, he was initially declared guilty, but the verdict was thrown out by U.S district court judge and a new trial was ordered in 2007. He was then acquitted in 2008 after a retrial. Barry said the charges were politically motivated.
VitaPro
Barry is the CEO of VitaPro Foods Inc. It sells textured vegetable protein soy-based meat substitutes, primarily to prisons and other institutional feeding operations. Barry also owns another venture called ProPectin, a Bulgarian company he purchased in 2009 that manufactures a pharmaceutical-grade apple pectin, which Barry credits for having cured his Type II diabetes.
Barry developed VitaPro in 1989 or 1990. It was originally a South African venture. According to the VitaPro website, the company now operates from Belize and Bulgaria.
Charitable work
Since 2012 a charity founded by Barry, Global Village Champions, has been focused on assisting Syrian refugees in Bulgaria.
He has befriended several boxing champions who have supported his charitable work. Retired champion boxer Evander Holyfield became Global Village Champions's "Goodwill Ambassador" in 2013. Retired boxer Muhammad Ali has also been his personal friend and has worked with Barry on his humanitarian projects. After Barry's involvement in disaster relief in the Philipines, his charity work has also received support from Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Personal life
Barry is married to Yvette Barry, formerly an appraiser at an art gallery in Sarasota, Florida. He is a part-time resident of the Sarasota, Florida area. He was previously married to a woman named Daveda.
References
- ^ "Sarasota resident fights for peace all over world". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Reguly, Eric (2013-11-22). "Yank Barry, motivated by past sins, becomes a philanthropist". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- O'Connor, Joe (2012-04-15). "The world according to Yank: Montrealer with checkered past gets Nobel nod, or does he?". National Post. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
- ^ "Ruth (Reznick) Falovitch Obituary". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- "Social Notes — Montreal Feb 24, 1961". Canadian Jewish Review. Feb 24, 1961. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ Trueman, Ivor. "Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares". borderlinebooks. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- "Kingsmen web site historical page". Retrieved 2014-05-29.
- ^ "Pair convicted of extorting $82,000 from heir". Montreal Gazette. May 22, 1982. p. A3. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- "Discogs". Retrieved 2014-6-14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - "Let My People Come (advertisement)". Montreal Gazette. Jun 16, 1979. p. 12.
- "Ex-con heads firm at center of prison brouhaha". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. 1996-03-27. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Macdonell, Rod (Oct 10, 1998). "Barry faces bribery charge in Texas". Montreal Gazette.
- ^ Cohan, William D. (August 15, 2011). "Adding to the Confusion". ARTnews.
- "Larry King interview". YouTube.
- ^ Macdonell, Rod (31 May, 1998). "Local food exec indicted in Texas". Montreal Gazette. No. Sunday Final ed.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Barry acquitted in Texas prison food scandal". Canada.com. CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. (via the Montreal Gazette). 25 April 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Silcoff, Sean (2001-08-01). "Montreal Soy Mogul Charged With Bribery Over Prison Meal Deal". National Post.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - "VitaPro — contact". VitaPro Foods, Inc. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
- Winograd, David (2013-11-14). "'Jewish Schindler' Taps Boxing Legend Evander Holyfield to Help Syrian Refugees". TIME.com. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
- ^ Cox, Billy (2014-03-12). "Sarasota man again nominated for Nobel prize". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- "Yank Barry nominated for Nobel Peace Prize". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2014-06-14.