paul williams needs help

along with another sci-fi geek, the late greg shaw, paul williams pretty much started rock journalism, for better or worse. this from his website:

“In 1995, while living with his future wife, the singer Cindy Lee Berryhill, in Encinitas, California, Paul suffered a traumatic brain injury in a spill from his bicycle, and was never completely able to resume his full activities as a writer. The injury likely triggered an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease; some symptoms were immediate, while others revealed themselves in tragic slow motion: fading powers of memory, then of comprension and speech. In 2008, unable to continue caring for Paul while also taking care of their eight year-old son, Cindy began to arrange for Paul to live in managed care outside the home. Like so many freelancers, Paul lived without any structure of institutional support. The burden on Cindy and their son has been immense.

Plans are underway for a benefit music-anthology, and for re-publication of some of Paul’s books. In the meantime, direct donations, small or large, are urgently needed. The community of Paul’s friends and professional acquaintances is large – the community of those affected by Paul’s writing and his other enterprises – from music fans to Philip K. Dick fans to readers of his other books – is simply immense. Few, until now, have been aware of the urgent need for help. If you count yourself among those learning of Paul’s disability here for the first time, please consider responding with a donation, as others have before you – and as we hope many more will soon choose to do.”