Paul Pines, Curator and Artistic Director of the Lake George Jazz Weekend for 35 years, died on June 27, 2018 at age 77.
Paul was also a poet, novelist, psychotherapist, literature professor, as well as jazz entrepreneur.
Born in Brooklyn, Paul grew up around the corner from Ebbets Field, a few blocks from where his cherished daughter Charlotte now lives. He attended Erasmus Hall High School and later the Cherry Lawn School in Connecticut, where he first began writing poetry. After graduating from Bard College in 1961, he moved to the Lower East Side of New York where he found his artistic home among the poets, writers, artists, and musicians whose creativity was flourishing synergistically there. In 1973, he opened his jazz club the Tin Palace on Bowery and 2nd, which became a Mecca for cutting edge music and poetry for many years thereafter. Paul’s first novel, The Tin Angel, a brilliant murder mystery, vividly recreates that singular time and ambience.
A NYS Council for the Arts writer-in-residency brought Paul to the Glens Falls /Lake George area in 1984. He was soon introduced to John Strong of the Lake George Arts Project, and the two began planning the first ever Lake George Jazz Weekend. John and Paul remained partners in that endeavor for 35 years. Paul’s “connect” with the world, jazz, musicians and the audience he nurtured is irreplaceable. He leaves behind his loving wife and daughter, Carol and Charlotte, thousands of friends and admirers, and a remarkable legacy for Jazz at the Lake.