New Jack Reynolds’ book chronicles Mutual Life’s history in Life was a Mutual Affair

Dozens of stories are captured in Reynolds’ new book “Life Was A Mutual Affair,” an anecdotal history of Mutual Life — the title plays off a former advertising slogan.

It was quite the send-off.

It was Dec. 17, 2001, Jack Reynolds’ last day at Clarica Life Insurance Co., and employees had gathered in the auditorium at the company’s Waterloo headquarters.

But they weren’t there to fete Reynolds and a 33-year career at Mutual Life of Canada, renamed Clarica in 1999 after it demutualized. They were there to learn the company was being acquired by Sun Life Financial, with the loss of 1,500 jobs in the process.

It wasn’t quite the retirement party Reynolds had envisioned.

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