I hope the waiting room is big at Purgatory, and there are lots of old issues of Chatelaine on the coffee table, because there’s a rush at the doors of Saint Pierre these days.
After Mr. Mulroney, it is Paul Houde’s turn to leave us.
Acres of traps
Every time you spoke with Paul Houde, you were sure of two things.
You were going to laugh until your stomach hurt, and you were going to go to bed less stupid.
Everyone wrote it and it’s true: the guy was a game of A few acres of traps by himself.
I have rarely seen a person with such general knowledge.
It ranged from “What is the capital of Botswana?” (Ganorone) to “What is high dose buprenorphine?” (a synthetic opiate used in the treatment of heroin addiction).
The more complicated a word or name was, the more Paul enjoyed pronouncing it.
You know, the Finnish athletes who have endless names, with slashes over “O”s and umlauts over consonants, like the names of IKEA dressers?
Olavi Rinteenpää, Yrjö Lehtilä and Bengt Sjöstedt?
Paul was keen to repeat their names.
It looked like he was sucking on candy.
What he loved most of all was talking about doping in sport, because the names of most drugs allow you to gain 50 points in Scrabble.
“He was taking beta-2 agonists, salbutamol and terbutaline which cause tachycardia and musculoskeletal disorders…”
That threw him straight into seventh heaven.
- Listen to the Martineau – Dutrizac meeting between Benoît Dutrizac and Richard Martineau via QUB :
Not a “first in class”
But unlike others who have well-formed and full heads, Paul Houde did not suffer from first-in-class syndrome.
He wasn’t drowning you in tons of information to try to impress you and show you how brilliant he was, no.
He loved to share.
Paul Houde was greedy.
Greedy of knowledge, facts, data, anecdotes and stories (with a small and a capital “H”).
You talked with him and you just felt like, when you came home, to gorge yourself on knowledge like Brother Tuck in Robin Rocket. A book, a documentary, a magazine, a tutorial – bring some, it’s not an ointment!
Teachers are told that they must teach, educate, instruct.
But there is one thing which is even more important, and which we talk about too little: they must give young people a taste for learning.
When Daniel Pinard talked about food, it was sensual, fatty, dirty, it flowed and oozed everywhere.
Well, that’s what a good teacher is: he or she should make you want to know more.
Photo Ben Pelosse
The world in 3D
Paul Houde could tell you about the various methods used over the years to install door handles, and you just wanted to install door handles!
That’s what knowledge is: it allows you to see the world in 3D.
Paul Houde didn’t need a virtual reality headset to see life in relief.
He was an IN follower.
Natural intelligence.
Let’s all be Paul Houde!