It is with sad regret that I announce the death of a beloved friend and wonderful storyteller: Paul Gregson.
Paul was born in 1929 in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, where he won a scholarship to an English public school. At the age of 18 he was called up to serve in the Royal Air Force and sent to Yatesbury, in Wiltshire, for training as a radio technician. During his service he was posted to various British territories in Southeast Asia. In 1954 he married Madeleine, who had been born in France and was teaching school in Stoke-On-Trent, England. She became his life-long partner.
The couple immigrated to eastern Canada and bore two sons. Paul pursued a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he and Madeleine founded a private day school in Daly City, south of San Francisco. A Mensa and self-taught man of many talents, Paul also worked as a system analyst for Mount Zion Hospital and Stanford University, and did contract programming for such premier (but long absorbed by other firms) as ROLM Corporation and Raynet International. Eventually the couple moved to Placerville, California, where they operated a country-style French restaurant for several years before finally retiring. It was there that Paul died in 2006.
As a skilled raconteur and man of wide experience, Paul was for many years a sought-after member of the San Francisco Mensa party and speaker circuits. In 1981 he began to write down some of his better stories from his varied life and sent them to The Ecphorizer. The Ecphorizer Online has reprinted his stories as well as featured an entire issue in his name, small tributes to a man who was in many ways larger than life. [Biography courtesy of George Towner.]
The table below lists Paul's wonderful stories. Click on a title and you'll jump to that story.
Paul was born in 1929 in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, where he won a scholarship to an English public school. At the age of 18 he was called up to serve in the Royal Air Force and sent to Yatesbury, in Wiltshire, for training as a radio technician. During his service he was posted to various British territories in Southeast Asia. In 1954 he married Madeleine, who had been born in France and was teaching school in Stoke-On-Trent, England. She became his life-long partner.
The couple immigrated to eastern Canada and bore two sons. Paul pursued a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he and Madeleine founded a private day school in Daly City, south of San Francisco. A Mensa and self-taught man of many talents, Paul also worked as a system analyst for Mount Zion Hospital and Stanford University, and did contract programming for such premier (but long absorbed by other firms) as ROLM Corporation and Raynet International. Eventually the couple moved to Placerville, California, where they operated a country-style French restaurant for several years before finally retiring. It was there that Paul died in 2006.
As a skilled raconteur and man of wide experience, Paul was for many years a sought-after member of the San Francisco Mensa party and speaker circuits. In 1981 he began to write down some of his better stories from his varied life and sent them to The Ecphorizer. The Ecphorizer Online has reprinted his stories as well as featured an entire issue in his name, small tributes to a man who was in many ways larger than life. [Biography courtesy of George Towner.]
The table below lists Paul's wonderful stories. Click on a title and you'll jump to that story.