Paul Ferguson Leaves Us
Paul Ferguson died early on the morning on Wednesday, August 12. He had been declining for some time and he seemed to have made his peace and was ready to move on.
Paul was about as good a friend as the paddling community ever had. He was the Carolina Canoe Club President for four years. He helped lobby for conservation, access rights, new parks and many other projects that helped boaters and the greater community.
Paul had a full life. His first job was working for IBM monitoring the ground computer systems for NASA at Cape Canaveral. He was there for many of the early Apollo “Mission to the Moon” flights.
Paul later transferred to Raleigh and remained working for IBM here in North Carolina, except for a three year assignment in England.
Paul is well known for his highly regarded river guidebooks, “Paddling Eastern North Carolina” and “Canoe Kayak South Carolina.” His books have led many a beginner or an expert through a maze or rivers and put-ins, helping them find enjoyment and surprise in remote swamps and valleys and in the creek just down the road from their home.
Paul personified dignity and generosity. He said he wrote the books “because it was fun and seemed to help people.”
Paul will be missed. We hope to have an event in the coming months to honor Paul’s memory and the places he held dear.
This is from a writing by Paul as he described his search for the oldest tree in a blackwater swamp:
“My search is finished. I load my canoe and paddle for the take-out. I am by nature a traveler of rivers and streams, and like any traveler, I am pleased to have found an uncharted destination.”
Paul, we hope your destination holds the mystery you pursue.
Nancy and I have many fond memories of paddling with Paul and working with him in the Carolina Canoe Club.
Paul was an incredible man. I worked with him during the many years I was CCC Business Manager – before and after he was president of the Carolina Canoe Club.
I consulted with Paul many times about paddling the Black River, South River and others BEFORE he published his two excellent river guidebooks covering NC and SC rivers. He personally paddled all of the rivers he described which was unusual. (Unlike Paul, Bob Benner relied on others to write descriptions of some rivers he included in “Carolina Whitewater” because he had not paddled them himself.)
It was a privilege and a treat to paddle with Paul. No doubt, he will be with us when we paddle using his guidebooks . I hope he finds time to paddle wherever he is now.
Laura Evans