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Out of context: Reply #35160
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- Jaline0
"Paul Michael Attallah died Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 at 5.10 in the evening, of cancer of the liver. Paul was 55 years old. He was in no pain but had weakened dramatically in the past days. Paul had been in the hospital since just after Christmas.
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Long time former Director of the Communication side of the Carleton School of Journalism and Communication, Paul had learned he had an advanced cancer just over 18 months ago. Despite some complications, he was reasonably active and able to go out and about until late November 2008 when such activities became too tiring. His oncologist was amazed that he had made it past Christmas 2007. Paul took some satisfaction that that his own statistical calculations of his expected death were, as he put it, “bang on.”
Paul remained the amazing teacher he was to the last, astonishing his friends with his insights and reflections until the very end.
He taught Communication for 24 years. He was particularly outstanding in being able to lastingly reach first-year students. His principal intellectual interests focussed especially on the relations between rationality, modernity and post-modernity, topics on which his views were emphatic.In his academic career, he took his PhD at McGill with a dissertation that, as the story goes, rehabilitated the cultural status of “The Beverly Hillbillies” TV show. He then taught at the Université de Montréal, the Télé-Université of the Université du Québec, and as of 1981 at Carleton University.
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I had him for two classes. My very first Communications class in 2004 (lasted the entire year). And then again in 2006, over the summer. One of my favourite teachers.