Tags

, ,

Paul Curran: virtual barista and raconteur nonpareil

Paul Curran: virtual barista and raconteur nonpareil

A few years ago, Paul Curran showed up and started adding his smart, funny, witty stories and comments to my blog. That first day, he talked about how his father provided an example for him of the importance of family, hard work, and education. He ended that first story with, “Thanks for the memories, Barb.”

Since then, Paul has added his thoughts, wisdom, and wisecracks to more than fifty of my blog posts. He’s contributed guest posts, and introduced me to other fabulous bloggers like his very good friend, Mark Bialczak, on whose blog he could often be found serving as Sunday guest barista and blogger.

Paul has always impressed me for so many reasons, from his delight in people of every possible walk of life, background, and experience, to his incredibly wide-ranging interests, to his gift for creating word sketches of the characters he’s known. I can’t tell you how often I’ve begged him to put them into a book.

Recently, Paul’s health—already compromised by cancer and dialysis treatments—took a turn for the worse. But when he could write, he apologized for being out of touch, and said he would soon be back. We talked about his plans to move to Vancouver, and made a date to have brunch at Edible Canada on Granville Island.

Mark Bialczak shared sad news today, as he wrote:

We’ve lost Paul Curran, our master guest columnist and prolific comment-leaver

/

Those of us who’ve grown to love the lively words that bounced from the head and fingers of Paul Curran will never be the same.

The writer from Canada has died, according to his neighbor Steve Watson.

I received this email on the contact tab from my blog:

With great sadness I have to tell you that Paul Curran has passed away. Paul passed last week. 

[Please see the rest of Mark’s tribute to Paul here.]

I will always remember Paul for his joy, his wit, and his incredible ability to celebrate the people he’s known. As a small sample, please take a look at the last guest blog Paul hosted for me. “If it has tires or testosterone“. His response to one of the comments was, “I am happy that you are having fun reading my stories. More to come, so stay tuned and please drop by again.”

I hope St. Peter is ready for some fantastic stories, because Paul has so many more to tell.

Thank you for the memories, Paul.