Paul Williams needs our help

[ellen_datlow]

From the Paul Williams WEBSITE & SUPPORT FUND :

"Called by many the “father of rock criticism” after founding Crawdaddy Magazine at the age of 17, crucial early champion of Philip K Dick, author of the underground classic Das Energi, confidant of John Lennon, biographer of Bob Dylan and traveling companion to the Grateful Dead, Paul Williams has lived a half dozen remarkable lifetimes, and his work as rock critic, holistic philosopher and avant-garde underground gadfly forms a unique and indispensable link through the past 40 years of pop and rock culture."

ED: I met Paul and his wife only a few times (once for a garden party at Jonathan's Brooklyn apt)and he was a lovely man. I knew about the accident and in fact saw him at least once afterward but I had no idea that he was the victim of early onset Alzheimer's as a result. That really sucks and is one of my own greatest fears. (early, late, I don't care).



via Jonathan Lethem

Comments

[readingthedark.livejournal.com]

We had a long, rambling phone conversation in 2001 and I was so impressed by how his mind worked. His recall was impressive and he was a born storyteller. I love his work and was saddened by the news.

[gwynnega]

How awful. I've met his wife a number of times, and PW himself once or twice (maybe in the late '90s?). I had no idea any of this was going on.

[dasenergi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the news. I have added a blurb and link on my main page.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I knew about the accident, knew he's sustained some brain damage but I'd thought that it was relatively minor (difficulty in concentration, things like that). This development I hadn't known about until now.

[fastfwd.livejournal.com]

I first met Paul in 1976 at the Kansas City worldcon. We had some wonderful, amazing conversations. Lost touch with him for a while, then ran into him at various functions, always enjoyed his company.

After his bike accident, he had been traveling in Europe and stopped here with us in North London for a couple of nights on his way back to the US. As it turned out, he was a mutual friend of mine and Chris's, before Chris and I had ever met.

We had a long conversation about head injuries--I had sustained one myself back in 1971 during the Mayday demonstrations in Washington, DC, although nothing as bad as his. One of the problems with certain kinds of head injuries is anger management, believe it or not. Paul said that sometimes he had to work very hard to keep his temper under control. When passing through Customs after arriving on the EuroStar, he had become quite angry about the suspicious way the officials had treated him (and this was before 2001).

It was hard for me to imagine that. He didn't get angry or emotional while he was talking about it and during his visit, we saw nothing but his usual gentle, good-humoured temperament. He was doing a lot of reading, he said, and learning. That was how he put it.

Chris and I are both heartbroken.