Nick Auf der Maur

Nick Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998) was a journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was also the father of rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur, through his marriage to Linda Gaboriau.

The youngest of four children of German Swiss immigrants J. Severn and Theresa Auf der Maur, his birth name was Nikolaus. He was a regular at various downtown Montreal bars, and often transacted official and unofficial business there, entertaining visitors to the city, telling stories, and meeting with a wide range of Montrealers from all walks of life.

As a journalist he wrote regular columns for the Montreal Gazette and the now-defunct Montreal Star. A frequent subject was his daughter Melissa Auf der Maur, about whom he often wrote in his newspaper columns as she was growing up. She once observed that she had been known her whole life as Nick Auf der Maur's daughter, until she became the bassist for Hole, whereupon he became known as Melissa Auf der Maur's father.

He was also a television personality, serving as co-host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Quelque-Show with Les Nirenberg during the early 1970s.

Mordecai Richler claimed that Auf der Maur once went bar-hopping with Conrad Black and when they accidentally wandered into a gay bar and were asked to leave, Black indignantly insisted it was his democratic right to stay, so they did.

As a young man, he participated in left-wing politics. While working as a story editor at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Auf der Maur and his producer were arrested under the War Measures Act during the October Crisis. His cell was across from that of future Parti Québécois cabinet minister Gérald Godin. He was not charged with an offence.

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