Paula Grey
(16 May 1960 – 12 June 2021)
My world and the world lost a truly wonderful person when Paula Grey suddenly passed away on the night of 12 June, aged 61. Her husband Doug’s description of her as a gentle and kind person is absolutely right, and he should know better than anyone, given that they married in England on 25 November 1978, she 18, he 20. They had five children who share Doug’s desolation at the loss of someone who died long before her due time.
Paula came into my life on 11 January 1991 as my PA, and became my eyes, ears, fingers, hands, and above all else, my brains – and, on occasion, the Pinocchio on my shoulder (that was a close as we came to ever exchange cross words). Her output via her computer was phenomenal, and there was no way that the Wine Companion could have grown as it did without her acute intelligence in database building and management extending to shortcuts to the point where it was akin to Artificial Intelligence. On occasion it would fail and very odd word would appear in the printed document, when her self-deprecating sense of humour would break out, never far from the surface.
She never stopped learning and asking questions about technical wine issues, and where and when needed, softly polish my tasting notes where she was sure of her ground. Her skill in handling incoming phone calls was one of her greatest strengths. No matter how ill she felt, she would respond to the ‘How are you?’ question saying ‘I’m lovely!’ and find out what the caller needed to speak to me about. More often than not, she would be able to answer the question or provide the information so deftly that the caller would completely forget the need to speak to me.
Time may fill the hole in my heart, but will never heal it.
James Halliday