Hiya folks,
I have some shocking news regarding my friend and coeditor for KINK, Paul Willis, from New Orleans. I’m unsure to whom else Greg, Paul’s partner, may have sent the message below, but I thought some folks should know that Paul Willis was violently attacked last week.
The story is senseless and shocking; I cannot describe it any clearer than Greg has. I’ve contacted Greg to offer to go down and help Paul and him if needs be. Perhaps somehow we can pass around the hat to help Paul and Greg out with expenses.
Allbest, Ron
—— Forwarded Message Date: Mon, 31 May 2004
21:34:14 EDT To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: From Greg Herren in New Orleans
Dear everyone:
Please forgive me the mass nature of this emailing. I just can't bring
myself to do this more than once, and there are so many friends….
Last Saturday night, Paul and I went to the French Quarter to a party.
Afterwards, we went barhopping for a little while–and with different ideas
of how to spend the rest of the evening, we separated.
At four thirty in the morning, more or less, Paul was heading for a cabstand
in the lower French Quarter after walking a friend home. A van pulled up,
five white teenagers got out, knocked him down, and started beating him.
(they also took his wallet to make it look like a mugging.) Fortunately, at
the all night deli across the street, Verdi Marte, some courageous young
girls in their late teens and early twenties saw it happening, screamed at
the clerk to call the police and ran outside screaming. The brave gay
bashers, apparently frightened by three teenaged girls, jumped in their van
and sped off. One of the girls gave chase on her bike, trying in vain to get
the license plate number. Paul was rushed to the emergency room.
After nine hours of surgery, the doctor managed to save Paul's right eye. He
lost all of his vision in it. He can see light, but can't see shapes or
movement, even when it is less than two inches from his eye. The doctor
holds no hope for him to regain any of his vision in his right eye. There
is also a slight possibility (its too complicated to get into) that the
damage to this eye might unfortunately cause him to go blind in the other;
it has something to do with the connections between the optic nerves and the
immune system. Should that happen, he will have to have the right eye
removed…..fortunately, all other injuries are merely cosmetic: cuts,
abrasions, and bruises.
For those of you who are patiently waiting for my input on stories or
manuscripts, or those who are patiently waiting for them from me, I am
terribly sorry. I appreciate the patience you have shown thus far, and I am
going to have to ask you all to be a little more patient. Obviously, writing
and editing are the furthest things from my mind right now. We don't know
exactly what is going to happen, or what we are going to have to do at this
point. The doctor wants to keep him in the hospital until Wednesday.
As for my Lammy/BEA commitments, at this point I don't know what I am going
to do. At this point, I am not planning on going–although Paul insists that
I honor those commitments. I just don't know if I can leave. And maybe he's
right–maybe work will help, I don't know. I just can't seem to focus right
now.
I ask at this time that you please refrain from calling. I am usually not
home except to shower and change clothes and sleep…and as wonderful as it
is to hear sympathetic voices, they also make me break down, and I'm trying
very hard to hold it together right now. Please send positive, healing
energy our way, that's all I ask. The most important thing is Paul right
now….and that's all I can really think about right now.
I am so sorry to have to give news like this in a mass emailing; but I
simply don't have the time right now to call people or send individual
emails.
I love you all,
greg
Greg Herren BOURBON STREET BLUES SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT (editor, January 2004)
JACKSON SQUARE JAZZ (April 2004)
—— End of Forwarded Message
