Paddy McGuinness
Just learned of the passing of fluff-bashing legend Paddy McGuinness. Read one of his excellent pieces only a week or so back, actually. Had no inkling that he was even unwell.
Met him once. I was on a bus to Balmain and saw him sitting there in his distinctive all-black outfit. Introduced myself and we had an interesting chat about politics.
Actually, he had a lot to do with my transformation into the snarky right wing death beast you read here now ...
Surrounded by brain-dead arty wankers in Melbourne in the 90s, I was becoming increasingly uneasy; feeling something was truly creepy and wrong about the joint. Yet, being a bit of a brain-dead arty wanker myself, I didn't quite know what. Then I disovered McGuinness's columns -- published in The Age of all places!
The way he really nailed the pompous sanctimony of the "chattering classes" was a real joy and I realised there was another, much more exciting world of thought beyond the dreary, politically correct dogmas of the left.
He was a complex, thoughtful fellow with courage, compassion and a deep sense of fairness. Very sad to see him go.
