Hi all,
I am not sure how many of you are NFL fans, and whether or not you remember the writing of Dr. Z. A superb writer, funny, irascible, profane and most of the time, brilliant. Like many who knew him, I found that Paul could be incredibly funny and annoying at the same time.
What you might not know, was that he was also a very fine wine writer with an excellent palate, and a way of writing about wine that more than just demystified it, he cracked it wide open. One of his articles for Wine Enthusiast remains the funniest I have ever read about wine, and his description of his drunken meanderings prior to and at the Napa wine Auction for the magazine managed to get it kicked out out of the auction for a couple of years.
He suffered a stroke several years ago, which was followed by two more almost immediately afterwards. He has not spoken or written a word since, but his mind seems intact. His wife Linda is running out of money, the care facility which he went to a couple of years ago costs $180,000 a year, and he needs helps to stay there. I am offering a bottle of 1990 Margaux OR a bottle of Dujac Clos Saint Denis 1999 for auction, closing July 10th and putting a minimum bid of $700 which I will pay if there are no takers. But please bid on this; a great wine for a great cause.
Good for you, Mark. I was a huge fan of his SI columns. Funny, urbane, not-giving-even-one-f*ck stuff that showed real depth. His column every week on SI.com (the precursor to Peter King’s MMBQ) was must-reading every week. I am surprised to learn that he wrote about wine, and his wine references in his SI columns always suggested a positively anti-Golodetz palate as I recall.
In any event, a worthwhile endeavor and I hope you raise a fortune for The Flaming Redhead.