This week, our board was stunned to learn of the sudden and unexpected passing of our Chair, Bill Forbes. Bill was just 50.
Bill passed away quietly in his home, on a day off from his run of Ivor Johnson’s Neighbours at the Ship’s Co. Theatre in Parrsboro. He was a true renaissance man – a writer, performer, designer, builder, director and humanitarian. His performances included work at Neptune Theatre, Mulgrave Road Theatre, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia and numerous films, television shows and commercials.
Bill was a member of the board of the Performing Arts Lodge (PAL) Halifax since its inception. He believed completely and entirely in the PAL mission and philosophy. He had devoted much of his life to the performing arts community of Atlantic Canada, having served for a decade as a National Councillor for Canadian Actors Equity Association. He also served several years as a Branch Councillor for ACTRA Maritimes.
Personally, Bill had been a good friend to me since the day we met at the rehearsals for The Wizard of Oz at St. Francis Xavier University. (He was the Scarecrow… I was the Stage Manager.) We shared a house for a summer in PEI for an idyllic summer doing a show together in Summerside. And we spent countless hours on stage together as part of the improv company Script Wrecked. Some of the funniest moments of my life were created by Bill who truly had one of the most original and spontaneously creative minds I’ve ever come across. But his incredible talents were matched with a gentle spirit and a generosity of spirit that made everyone who worked with him loved him. He was an honest, decent, good man.
We at PAL will miss Bill immeasurably. I had always thought that he and I would be neighbours at PAL decades down the road. But I take some comfort in the image of him and our founder, the late, great David Renton planning our future together in a much better place.
Bill was one of the good ones. We who remain behind must work all the harder to make our PAL a reality so that it may serve as monument to his memory.
Rest easy, Bill. We are all the better for knowing you.
Palingenesis Summer 2010