As reported on Quill & Quire this morning, Canadian Writer Paul Quarrington died this morning. I didn’t know him well, but am a big fan and often used KIRBC meetings as a forum to talk about his work, so I thought I might share a few thoughts here.
When I was in publishing school, I kept a journal of weird and hilarious quotations from teachers and other students, as a means of remembering my time there. The first time I met Paul Quarrington (or Paul Quarrelsome, as our editorial teacher referred to him) he was a guest speaker for the program, and he instantly found a place in the journal by stating ‘you can never have too much ball-cupping’ and using a line drawing of a car to illustrate the path of publishing a book. After that meeting, I was hooked on his books, always returning to them for their ability to be simultaneously hilarious and gut-wrenchingly honest. Even more than that, I thought if a dude that cool can make a life in the book business, publishing is absolutely the thing for me. My parents introduced me to his awesome band and we would go and see them when they were in town, and spend summer evenings sipping wine on the back deck listening to his albums.
Thanks, Paul, for all of your contributions to the arts in Canada. Thanks for helping me find common ground with my mom and dad. Thanks for writing books that make me laugh out loud on the subway and cry unexpectedly. And thanks for keeping it so damn real. You will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.
Contributions to the Quarrington Arts Society are being accepted in his honour; visit www.quarringtonartsociety.ca
nice one, cheese.
Well-said, Sarah. My bookshelf and I are both devastated that no more of Paul’s books will grace the Q section. What a terribly sad loss for the literary community.
I had accidentally come across him when I happened to see “Whale Music” airing on tv one day. I was strangely hooked and later hunted down the book as well. Canada’s lost a great writer and lit figure. For fans of Paul, also have a look at this other article from infloox, which goes into a bit of detail about his literary influences.