That’s so sad to hear, Biblocat. He seemed to be a pretty cool person.
My condolences. I’m so sorry.
Hang tough…
Well this just sucks.
Rico & I send our condolences to you and his other loved ones. I can’t say I ever got to know him, but I knew by his nic that he was a person of character that I would have liked to get to know. Peace be with you danceswithcats
I am so sorry to read this. I enjoyed his posts, and am shocked and sad.
I am very saddened to hear about the loss of one of my favorite Dopers. I met danceswithcats at a DopeFest sometime in 2003. Even before I met him, I knew his screenname (I love cats too), and his sig line “Crows. Keeping our highways clear of roadkill for over 80 years.” I always thought that was so funny, being a big fan of crows myself!
Paul was one of the nicest and most interesting guys I have ever met. He was so much fun. I loved hearing him talk about his cats and fire safety, and many other topics he was knowledge about. He taught me some important things about keeping my home fire-safe.
We used to have MAD (Mid-Atlantic Doper) DopeFests all the time back in 2003 and 2004, and I always looked forward to seeing him. I dug through my old photos from those fun times and found several that clearly show what a fun and special person he was:
9/27/2008 - danceswithcats and BiblioCat at the 2008 Gettysdope. I remember thinking that they were such a cute couple, and that they seemed happy.
6/19/2004 - A ponytail pull at Gettysdope 2004, with danceswithcats, iampunha, and norinew’s daughter. (Photo by OpalCat)
5/30/2004 - At one of AnitaVacation’s many parties, danceswithcats on left, and RTFirefly in middle. (Photo by OpalCat)
4/17/2004 - AnitaVacation’s birthday dinner, with Mr. norinew, norinew, RTFirefly, Ms Robyn, Captain Carrot (?), AnitaVacation, danceswithcats, Wendell Wagner.
4/17/2004 - Another one from Anita’s birthday dinner. (Photo by OpalCat)
2/7/2004 - Another DopeFest at AnitaVacation’s: from left, RTFirefly, norinew, forgot name, forgot her name too, danceswithcats (showing more love for a redhead!), Mr. norinew, and Ms Robyn.
12/27/2003 - Party at AnitaVacation’s house: Anita on left, GingerOfTheNorth in middle, and danceswithcats on right, showing his love!
12/6/2003 - Dope-the-halls holiday party at GingerOfTheNorth’s and WeirdDave’s. AnitaVacation on left, and danceswithcats on right, with cool moose hat. I’ll never forget, Paul had a bottle opener hanging around his neck, so I needed to find him every time I opened another bottle of beer!
10/25/2003 - Dope-a-ween party at Jonathan Chance’s house. From left: ScubaBen, welder’s name I don’t know, danceswithcats (in his fire gear), can’t remember the witch’s name, Mr. norinew, and norinew.
I hope these photos will help people remember the fun times spent with Paul. Notice the theme, of him always goofing off, trying to make people laugh in the photo, and showing his affection for his friends. Paul, you were such a special person and I am so sorry to see you go. I hope you are at peace now. I am glad that I got to know you, even though it was for a very brief time.
A very sad day.
My condolences BiblioCat
So sorry to hear this awful news. I always got a smile out of his name… how sad that he couldn’t beat the inner demons.
I’m so sorry. I had a lot of respect for his knowledge.
I just don’t know what to say.
Well, shit.
Suicide makes me so damn angry.
Ah, God… for all that we butted heads on LJ over the death penalty, I genuinely liked DWC and am incredibly saddened to hear of his passing. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times at MAD fests and a couple small memories stand out for me.
I think it was the first time we’d met, maybe 2002 or 2003 and we fell to discussing this new Homestar Runner website. He talked about one of the cartoons and said “Then this… dog comes out” and I said “That’s not a dog, that’s The Cheat.” Next time I saw him was in pics from the June 2004 DF (see the ‘ponytail pull’ photo) and there he is wearing a The Cheat shirt.
Summer 2004, OpalCat’s “Farewell Mid-Atlantic” fest somewhere out in VA. He shows up and we hang for a bit, getting a couple of laughs out of a bar snacks dispenser labeled “Hot Nuts”. The fest breaks up, I head out; in the parking lot he drives by with his window down and hollers “HOT NUTS!” before hitting the road.
You have my sincerest condolences, BiblioCat, and another request to please not play the “what if” game with yourself. The forces at work in Paul’s head were far too strong for those of us without the right piece of paper on the wall to help him tame; take solace and comfort in the fact that for some two years you, alongside his daughter, were a bright patch of sunshine in his life.
So long, Paul. Although we go on without you without, we go on with you within.
I’m so, so sorry. I was thinking of him just this week. He will be missed.
So very sorry to hear the news. My condolences to you and to his family.
I’m so very, very sorry.
You know, I was just thinking about the HOT NUTS incident as well!
This is so very sad.
I hope he is surrounded by his friends and family and is truly dancing with his many loved cats.
So sorry to hear about his passing, Bibliocat; his daughter, family and friends (including you) are in my thoughts and prayers. {{{{{{{}}}}}}}}}
Thank you, nyctea scandiaca. For those of us who did not know him well, that was a nice picture of who he was.
We’ve lost a good man.