They started in November of 2010 purely by intentional
accident. I was in the Stow Library, taking time away from my job to work on my
novel. I’d written for a large part of the morning and was doing research on
literary agencies in the afternoon. I sent a brief email to Paul Muller of the
Aarau Literary Agency, and he was kind enough to respond.
From there, “email” took on a new meaning.
Paul and I began a correspondence in December of 2010 that
at its high point would see us sending three to four emails a day. We talked
about everything from books to philosophy to family to religion to cats and
everything in between. We shared secrets, dreams and fears. We became the best
of friends separated by 40 years and half a world—all built through email.
I still think it was a mistake to start conversing via MSN
Messenger. Our correspondence via texting lacked the well-thought arguments and
relevance that comes from taking time to craft an email with few holes.
In March of 2013, I finally got to meet Paul face-to-face.
We spent a week together in Collingwood, Canada. Speaking of all the things
that we had previously written and sharing meals and playing games. He enjoyed
meeting my kids and my wife, and we genuinely had a wonderful time.
We had talked of so much during our week-long visit, that
the emails were less frequent upon his return to Thailand. He was caught up in
working on his next “big idea”, and I was caught up in the regular activities
of life.
On May 10, 2013, Paul sent me an email decrying the
treatment of a middle school teacher who was recently fired for having a
part-time job as a swimsuit model. He saw it as an excellent example of the
hypocrisy of the United States. His arguments were as familiar as an old pair
of shoes and I could hear the tremor in his voice as he got his dander up…
That was the last email.
I found out today that Paul, my dear friend, has died.
Since I had seen him in person only once, and spoken to him directly
only a handful of times, there isn’t much that will change in my daily life…but
the emails are done. I’ve received so many that the flashing green light on my
phone, telling me that I have a new email, is the thing I most closely
associate with Paul. I loved seeing that flashing green light.
Now that light has gone. I’m so sad and my spirit is so much
poorer for the loss, but I am vastly richer for knowing him, and I have the
treasure of all those emails.
I love you, Paul. I miss you.
