Bill Paul, town crier, has died. RIP.

Bill Paul, London's self-appointed town crier, in full regalia and mid-proclamation downtown in 2005. (Ken Wightman/The London Free Press)

Bill Paul clearly loved London. And Londoners clearly loved him back, as shown by the outpouring of memories by Londoners mourning the self-appointed town crier’s death. It’s believed Bill Paul was in his mid-60s. 

“He was everywhere,” one friend recalled – and it seems everyone has a memory of meeting Bill over the years. He was hard to forget and he made it clear that he found the people he met equally hard to forget. He would take a person's name, birthday and phone number and every year he'd call and wish that person a happy birthday.

I must say that I will miss those calls but I will smile as I remember London's town crier, founder of the Laff Guards and a man I will always call a friend. I met Bill for the first time back in the mid '70s when a young Bill Paul was partying next door. The only person I every met who had mixed memories of Bill was the mother of the boy who threw the party. She told me that the clean up the next day was Bill Paul sized and Bill was always a big guy.