Farewell to Paul Hester
I referred to him in this very blog as "the quintessential Aussie smart-arse", and that he was. He was the one-time drummer of Split Enz and Crowded House. He was a cafe owner, a TV presenter, a natural comedian. A larrikin. But he was also a father, a partner, a mate. He lived his way always, or so it seemed.
And in the end, none of that was enough to make him stay.
Paul Hester took his own life last weekend. His body was found in a park near his Elwood home.
His daughters are 8 and 10.
I saw him late last year at a reunion of sorts. It was a live and intimate gig of his former bandmates Neil and Tim Finn (ex Split Enz and Crowded House, currently The Finn Brothers). Hester was hosting the gig. He was, as always, irreverant and jokey. And seeing him and the boys together again onstage made you feel all warm and fuzzy. I never knew much about what went on inside his head or in his private life, not even from the press, but in the aftermath I can only imagine the terrible searing sadness. Imagine without understanding, and--probably--without even coming close to it.
And in the end, none of that was enough to make him stay.
Paul Hester took his own life last weekend. His body was found in a park near his Elwood home.
His daughters are 8 and 10.
I saw him late last year at a reunion of sorts. It was a live and intimate gig of his former bandmates Neil and Tim Finn (ex Split Enz and Crowded House, currently The Finn Brothers). Hester was hosting the gig. He was, as always, irreverant and jokey. And seeing him and the boys together again onstage made you feel all warm and fuzzy. I never knew much about what went on inside his head or in his private life, not even from the press, but in the aftermath I can only imagine the terrible searing sadness. Imagine without understanding, and--probably--without even coming close to it.
posted by Calaloola at 11:44 am
5 Comments:
your last line resonates with me. to try to walk in another's shoes but not stepping in his exact same footsteps. there is so much we have yet to understand and so much we don't want to.
aye it was a sensational gig. i posted a blog on it a few months back. i just didn't realise it would become as monumental as it did, in retrospect. i'm still heavy about the whole paul hester thing. especially in the midst of all this malarky about the pope. hester was comparitively young, and whatever he thought, it wasn't his time. the music industry bid him farewell at melbourne's prince of wales recently.
I dunno if angst is the word, but there's no doubt about the link between creative people and depression. Apparently Paul battled depression his entire life, there are a lot of sad clowns in the industry...
miss you much.
trans> so many blogs left un-blogged! now i don't know how to catch up. i could say i've been busy living, but we all have. thats no excuse...
finnegan> welcome! and a trend? i dunno. but the extreme lives that attract artistic types don't seem to suit them. it doesn't bear thinking about all those we've lost. mr buckley. mr smith (altho there's still a question mark over his death). richey manic.
sylvia, virginia...
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