Hylton Seon Reiff was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, on September 28, 1958, the son of Frederick Abraham Reiff and Rebecca “Rena” Abrahamson Reiff.
He grew up in Bulawayo, attending Carmel Primary School and later Milton Senior School.
By the mid-1970s, Rhodesia was embroiled in a bitter liberation war. Faced with the prospect of compulsory military service, Hylton left Rhodesia for Cape Town, South Africa, in 1976, where he completed his matriculation at Victoria House College. During his first year in Cape Town, he lived with Alec and Sybil Grevler, before sharing an apartment with his sister Leora, who was studying at the University of Cape Town.
From 1977 to 1979, Hylton worked as a contact lens technician at his uncle Abe Abrahamson’s optical company, alongside his brother David, who managed the spectacle-lens processing laboratory. At the same time, his passion for music was flourishing, and as a bass player he performed with a number of Cape Town musicians and bands.
In March 1979, seeking a new direction in his life, Hylton travelled to Israel and spent six months at a kibbutz ulpan studying Hebrew. It was there that he met Susan Cohen, from London, England. The couple subsequently left Israel for London, where, without a work permit, Hylton supported himself through a colourful assortment of jobs—from renovating old Victorian houses and working in a winery to selling movies on videotape.
Hylton and Susan married in December 16, 1979 and returned to South Africa the following year. Their son, Aaron Jared Reiff, was born on June 18, 1981.
Back in Cape Town, Hylton returned to General Optical and eventually managed its contact lens division. The company sent him to England and Germany to study new developments in contact lens manufacturing, techniques he subsequently brought back and successfully introduced in South Africa.
Following the end of his marriage, music once again became a major focus of his life. Throughout the 1980’s he remained active in Cape Town’s music scene and helped form The Fones, an original band that developed a strong local following.
In 1989, Hylton made another major change in his life, leaving South Africa and emigrating to Toronto, Canada, where his brother David and his family had settled several years earlier.
His professional life in Canada became remarkably varied. Over the years he worked in sales, optical retail, inventory management, pharmaceutical quality assurance and logistics, computer support, photography and digital media. From 1993 to 1999 he worked at Genpharm Pharmaceuticals, a large generic drug manufacturing plant and his responsibilities included quality assurance, warehouse and distribution supervision, personnel training and involvement in establishing pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. In 1999, Hylton attained a diploma in Network Administration at CDI College, which became useful with the onset of Y2K but early 2000, there were few job opportunies available in the industry.
In 2000, Hylton joined his brother David at Japan Camera and managed the digital side of the business. When David sold the business in 2009, Hylton founded a digital photographic/video company with a partner called Go Digital, an analog to digital transfer business in Toronto. Hylton retired in 2023 at the age of 65 years.
Through all these changes, however, music has remained the constant thread running through Hylton’s life. In 1996 and 1999, he composed and co-produced two albums under the name Car Go Zoom, and is currently playing bass with a Toronto classic-rock band Bone-Yard, and the original band Flight Risk. His original compositions can be found at soundclick/hyltonreiff and musical history at hyltonreiff.com
PHOTO ALBUM
Hylton's Barmitzvah - October 2nd 1971
Hylton & Susan's Wedding - December 16th 1979
Hylton's Habonim Days