19 Facts About Paul Quarrington

Paul Lewis Quarrington was a Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator.

Paul Quarrington wrote his early novels while working as the bass player for the group Joe Hall and the Continental Drift and as the guitar accompanist for Cathy Stewart, a Canadian singer who was popular at the time.

Paul Quarrington was a high school friend of songwriter Dan Hill, with whom he reunited toward the end of his life to collaborate on musical projects.

Paul Quarrington collaborated with many artists who achieved recognition in their respective disciplines.

Between the publication of his first and second novels, Paul Quarrington competed in the 1981 Three-Day Novel Contest, writing an unpublished manuscript called The Man Who Liked to Fall in Love.

Paul Quarrington's novels are characterized by their humour, although they address serious subjects; reviews of his writing have often noted that his books regularly contain elements of both tragedy and comedy.

Paul Quarrington's protagonists are often faded former celebrities in the worlds of sports, music or film, emotionally crippled antiheroes whose personal demons have led them to withdraw from society.

At the time of his death, Paul Quarrington had completed a short film adaptation of the work and was collaborating on a television series adaptation of that novel, which he claimed to be semi-autobiographical.

Paul Quarrington and Findley held a mutual admiration for each other; when asked to provide a review quote for Home Game, Findley blurbed that Paul Quarrington was "an extraordinary writer with a rare gift for pulling unique characters out of funny hats".

Paul Quarrington won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1991 for Perfectly Normal, a comedy that combined ice hockey and grand opera.

Paul Quarrington was a long-time board member of the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Paul Quarrington collaborated with the band Rheostatics on the Whale Music film soundtrack, including a songwriting credit on the band's most successful hit single, "Claire".

Paul Quarrington's songwriting was featured on the last CD put out by Porkbelly Futures, titled The Crooked Road which was recorded and released after his death, and features a photograph of Quarrington on the back cover.

Paul Quarrington participated in the collaborative "Canadian Songbook" tour in 2008 with Murray McLauchlan, Stephen Fearing and Catherine MacLellan.

Rheostatics, who had broken up in 2007, reunited for a live tribute show to Paul Quarrington produced by Humber College for Toronto's International Festival of Authors.

Paul Quarrington died of lung cancer in Toronto on January 21,2010, aged 56.

Paul Quarrington wrote a short story, "The Conversion" which he recited with music some time before his death.

Paul Quarrington was nominated for the Leacock Award in 1984 for Home Game, in 1986 for The Life of Hope, in 1990 for Whale Music and in 1998 for The Boy on the Back of the Turtle.

On June 10,2010, Paul Quarrington was posthumously awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Nipissing University.