PW (we knew him as "Pee Dub", among many other monikers) was a great mentor to me in the early days of TB. Some highlights:
In those days, before you could just send mp3 files easily as attachments, he offered to snail mail exchange recordings with me, and asked if I wanted him to critique them. Of course I said yes. He was direct and helpful with his critiques, but also incredibly encouraging at the same time. He encouraged personal honesty in assessing my own playing, which reminded me a lot of my previous great life/musical mentor.
Over the years, we kept in touch, and he was responsible for turning me on to Red Mitchell, who was one of his great mentors and role models. He even sent me a box of Red recordings on minidisc, including a wonderful bootleg of Red playing the piano and singing in the most musically pure and quirky way, which remains a treasure. PW said he could hear the piano player in me coming through on my bass recordings, and that it put him in mind of Red when I was "on".
As I was teaching graduate theory and improv classes at the U, I started incorporating PW's recordings into my teaching. Each semester, the grads each need to transcribe and analyze a chorus a week of solos from great recordings; I would transcribe the entire recording and we would compare notes each week in class. A couple of solos from PW's recording with Ron Miles and Eric Gunnison made it into the rotation, and he students always learned a lot from them, coming as they did with stories about how Paul recounted riding those guys pretty hard to get them to play outside their normal limitations and comfort zones. When I told him about this in an email and sent him a copy of the lifts, he just laughed and said "Jesus (expletive) Christ DURRL, I'm glad I don't have to take your class!"
But I could tell part of him was pleased that anyone thought enough of his recorded work to honor him in this way.
In 2017, I was at the ISB convention in Ithaca and ran into Marco Panascia in the Cincy Bass Cellar booth. We were amazed that PW's old Bohmann 5 string bass was there for sale. We decided to play an impromptu duet in the booth dedicated to Pee Dub where Marco was playing the Bohmann. I think we played "What Is This Thing Called Love". Marco uploaded the video to FB and I know Paul saw it and loved it. I haven't been on FB for years, but I wonder if that video is still up on Marco's page somewhere? Only things I remember about this recording was that Marco kept talking about "Eye-Talian Espresso" before we played, and that Arnold Schnitzer stumbled into the middle of the shot before he realized we were recording, then turned around and walked out without a word. Good times!
Last, and far more recently, a friend contacted me and let me know that Paul was in hospice and that would appreciate a call from me since we had corresponded so often but never met. I called and he picked up and we spoke for a few minutes. It was so wonderful to hear him, because he knew his time was almost up and was at peace with it. I remember him saying something along the lines of "there's nothing sad or dark about any of this. It's been a great run and I wouldn't change a thing" near the end of the short conversation. Like everything else he handled the end of the road on his own terms, and head on, without any apologies or regrets.
RIP, old friend. You will be missed, but not forgotten.
rip Paul 
