there is no stage 5

my favourite canadian author - Paul Quarrington - died last week at the age of 56. he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last May, and was given a year to live. i saw an interview with him after the diagnosis - he knew it was bad, and he said matter-of-factly: there is no stage 5. rather than lie in bed and wait to die, he followed his passions. not only was he a writer (novels, nonfiction, screenplays), he was a musician. he organized a tour for his band and recorded an album with them. then he started a new book.

i was lucky enough to meet him twice. first at a book festival 8 or 9 years ago. i thought i was going to hear him read from his latest book, but instead, he stood on stage with a guitar and sang songs about fishing. later, at the book signing, i pulled out two of my fave Quarrington novels and asked him to sign them. he wrote little notes - even doodled a small picture in my books, which i pulled off the shelf upon learning of his death. i'll re-read these at some point. i also gave him a copy of a book in which a short story i wrote was published. it's a collection of poetry and prose about ice hockey - which i knew was a passion of his. he flipped through the book, and seemed thankful for the freebie.

his writing is clever and witty, without pretense; when i read his books, i always think that if i became a writer, i'd like to write in a similar way. i'm going to recommend two novels. my favourite of his is one called "Home Game", which is about circus freaks who live on the outskirts of a town. one of the local churches wants to get rid of the circus, and they all decide that they'll play a game of baseball - the church against the circus - if the church wins, they leave. if the circus wins, they get to stay. the second novel is called "Whale Music", and it was later made into a film. it's about a reclusive former rock star (a la brian wilson) who lives by the ocean. he spends his time in his basement studio writing music for whales. a wonderful film and novel.

rip PQ