Paul Quarrington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1953-07-22)July 22, 1953 |
| Died | January 21, 2010(2010-01-21) (aged 56) Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician, educator |
| Genre | Humour |
| Notable works | Whale Music,King Leary,The Ravine |
| Notable awards | 1989 Governor General's Award for Fiction forWhale Music and winner of the 1988Stephen Leacock Award forKing Leary |
Paul Lewis Quarrington (July 22, 1953 – January 21, 2010) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician, and educator.[2]
Born inToronto as the middle of three sons in the family of four of Bruce Quarrington,[3] he was raised in the district ofDon Mills and studied at theUniversity of Toronto but dropped out after less than two years of study.
He wrote his early novels while working as the bass player for the groupJoe Hall and the Continental Drift and as the guitar accompanist for Cathy Stewart, a Canadian singer who was popular at the time. One of his novels,Whale Music, was called "the greatest rock'n'roll novel ever written" byPenthouse magazine. His non-fiction books and journalism were also highly regarded – he earned or co-earned more than 20 gold awards for his magazine articles alone.[4]
Quarrington's most consistent musical colleague has been Martin Worthy; their friendship began in high school. He was also a high school friend of songwriterDan Hill, with whom he reunited toward the end of his life to collaborate on musical projects.[5] Quarrington collaborated with many artists (a defining element of his overall body of work) who achieved recognition in their respective disciplines. These includeNino Ricci,Joseph Kertes,Dave Bidini,Jake MacDonald,John Krizanc,Christina Jennings, Judith Keenan, Michael Burke, Peter Lynch,Ron Mann,Robert Lantos and many others.
Between the publication of his first and second novels, Quarrington also competed in the 1981Three-Day Novel Contest, writing an unpublished manuscript calledThe Man Who Liked to Fall in Love.[6]
Quarrington's novels are characterized by their humour (King Leary received theStephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1988), although they address serious subjects; reviews of his writing have often noted that his books regularly contain elements of both tragedy and comedy.[6] During the promotional push for his 2008 novelThe Ravine, Anne Collins, his longtime editor atRandom House Canada, toldQuill & Quire that "Paul uses a comic approach to deal with incredibly sad and troubling and tragic material."[7]
His protagonists are often faded former celebrities in the worlds of sports, music or film, emotionally crippledantiheroes whose personal demons have led them to withdraw from society. Typically, in Quarrington's work, an outside agent of some sort – a young woman inWhale Music, ghosts inKing Leary, a hurricane inGalveston, an overtime hockey game inLogan in Overtime – challenges the structures of the protagonist's life and sets them on a path to moral, spiritual and personal redemption.
His novelThe Ravine was published in March 2008. At the time of his death, Quarrington had completed a short film adaptation of the work (Pavane, 2008) and was collaborating on a television series adaptation of that novel, which he claimed to be semi-autobiographical. "It's about a writer who squanders his talents in television, drinks too much, screws around and ruins his marriage," Quarrington has said. "The reason it's 'semi-autobiographical' is the guy's name is 'Phil.'"[8]
During his time, Quarrington has been an influential figure in Canadian literature, not only as an author, but also through his participation in teaching (Humber College and University of Toronto), publishing circles, organizations and events. He befriended many Canadian writers, includingTimothy Findley. Quarrington and Findley held a mutual admiration for each other; when asked to provide a review quote forHome Game, Findley blurbed that Quarrington was "an extraordinary writer with a rare gift for pulling unique characters out of funny hats".[9]
As a youngster, Quarrington came from a very musical background, and this showed consistently in his writing. Although most of Quarrington's biggest successes were as a writer, he reportedly considered himself a musician who also wrote rather than a writer who also made music.[10]
While writing a review blurb forLeonard Cohen's book,The Favourite Game, he admired Cohen's "poetic craftsmanship."[citation needed] Another time, in typical whimsical Quarrington fashion, he declared, "I seem to like authors named John –John Fowles,John Gardner,John Irving. John Gardner is my favourite – he's sadly not so well known these days."[11]
Quarrington's film adaptation ofWhale Music, cowritten with directorRichard J. Lewis, was nominated for numerousGenie Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, in 1994. ActorMaury Chaykin won best actor for his portrayal of the drug-addled Desmond Howl.
He won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1991 forPerfectly Normal, a comedy that combinedice hockey and grand opera.[12]Perfectly Normal opened theToronto International Film Festival, at that time called Festival of Festivals, in 1990.
Quarrington has also worked in the television industry, acting as writer and/or producer on such shows asDue South,Power Play andMoose TV, the latter winning Best Comedy from the CFTPA Indie Awards 2008.
Quarrington's work for the stage includesDying is Easy,The Invention of Poetry,Three Ways from Sunday and Checkout Time. He was a long-time board member of the Toronto Fringe Festival.[citation needed]
In their teens, Quarrington and Hill also occasionally performed together as afolk music duo, billed as Quarrington/Hill.[5] Hill had also auditioned for Quarrington's garage band PQ's People.[10]
Quarrington/Worthy, a duo with musician Martin Worthy, had a #1 hit onRPM's Adult Contemporary charts the week of January 12, 1980 with their song "Baby and the Blues".[13]
Quarrington collaborated with the bandRheostatics on theWhale Musicfilm soundtrack, including a songwriting credit on the band's most successful hit single, "Claire".
Quarrington was also the lead singer/guitarist for the blues/roots/country ensemblePorkbelly Futures. Their first CD,Way Past Midnight was released in late 2005 by Wildflower Records, and spent six months on the "Americana" charts. Their second CD,Porkbelly Futures, was released byCordova Bay Records in April 2008. It contains many of Quarrington's original compositions. His songwriting was also featured on the last CD put out by Porkbelly Futures, titledThe Crooked Road which was recorded and released after his death, and features a photograph of Quarrington on the back cover. Quarrington's solo CD calledThe Songs was recorded just prior to his death and was released posthumously in June 2010, also on Cordova Bay Records.[14]
He participated in the collaborative "Canadian Songbook" tour in 2008 withMurray McLauchlan,Stephen Fearing, andCatherine MacLellan.[15]
After being diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2009, Quarrington continued his plans to embark on various concert tours with Porkbelly Futures, while continuing to produce his own solo CD and the Porkbellys third release; complete his non-fiction memoirCigar Box Banjo: Notes on Life and Music (Greystone Books, May 2010), deliver multiple screenplays for episodes of a television series forShaftesbury Films (Notes on Euphoria, dir.John L'Ecuyer) as well as star in a documentary film initiated by friend and colleague Judith Keenan; the film,Paul Quarrington: Life in Music, is an adaptation tied to his written memoir.[16]
Rheostatics, who had broken up in 2007, reunited for a live tribute show to Quarrington produced byHumber College for Toronto'sInternational Festival of Authors.[17] Also appearing to celebrate his body of work in multiple genres wereChristina Jennings,John Krizanc, Michael Burns,Wayson Choy,Nino Ricci,Paul Gross,Alistair McLeod,Joe Hall, Porkbelly Futures with David Gray, and talented family members Christine Quarrington, Tony Quarrington andJoel Quarrington. Michael Burke announced the launch of Quarrington Arts Society / Société des Arts Quarrington, to provide support for working and emerging artists committed to multi-disciplinary practices.
Quarrington's final collaboration with Hill and Worthy, a song about his journey with cancer called "Are You Ready", was completed just ten days before Quarrington's death. The song was conceived by Quarrington and film producer Keenan as the focal point for their feature documentary. Many other songs were also conceived and produced by Quarrington during this fertile creative time, including "All the Stars" (created just days after the diagnosis) and "Wherever You Go," all of which are included on the posthumously released CD.
Quarrington died of lung cancer in Toronto on January 21, 2010, aged 56.[1] His final book, a memoir titledCigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life, was posthumously published later the same year.[10]He wrote a short story, "The Conversion" which he recited with music some time before his death. That recitation was presented on radio by the CBC Radio showTapestry.
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King Leary won theStephen Leacock Award in 1988,[18] andWhale Music won the1989 Governor General's Award for Fiction.[19] Quarrington was also nominated for the Leacock Award in 1984 forHome Game,[20] in 1986 forThe Life of Hope,[21] in 1990 forWhale Music[22] and in 1998 forThe Boy on the Back of the Turtle.[23]
Galveston, published in the United States asStorm Chasers, was nominated for the prestigiousGiller Prize.[24] He lost toAlice Munro – which, Quarrington stated afterward, "was hard to feel upset about. It's like losing toChekhov."
In February 2008,King Leary was put forward byDave Bidini as one of the five books considered onCBC Radio'sCanada Reads. Bidini ultimately prevailed, andKing Leary was named the book that everyone in the nation should read.[25]
His short filmPavane, adapted from his novelThe Ravine, garnered a Remi Platinum Award Houston's WorldFest, was juried in several other US festivals, and was broadcast in Canada on Bravo!FACT Presents and CBC Television'sCanadian Reflections. He and the creative team for ShowCase earned the CFPTA Indie Award for Comedy for the seriesMoose TV.
In 2009, theWriters' Trust of Canada awarded Quarrington itsMatt Cohen Prize for a distinguished lifetime contribution to Canadian literature.[26]
On June 10, 2010, Quarrington was posthumously awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters byNipissing University. His daughter Carson accepted the award on his behalf.
In 2014, the city ofToronto named an ice rink and water feature inSherbourne Common after Quarrington.[27]
