So depressing.

A review in Exclaim for his band Piggy Calypso Orchestra of the Maritimes’ 2000 release described him as “the exuberant Paul Gailiunas” and his band as “veterans of the benefit circuit, fighting against social injustices. Piggy songs never whine about the mess this world is in, they just try to make things better, starting with putting a great big gaping smile on your face.”

On a local music board one person wrote of Paul and Helen as being:

the type of people who wouldn’t have even considered leaving New Orleans when everything went insane there. They would have wanted to stay and create positivity and make a change in an area of extreme chaos and hopelessness. They were two of the most positive and respectful people I have ever met.

The same thread contains a number of memories about people who if even complete strangers to you have to come across as people you would want as neighbors if not outright friends [scrappy too - find the recollection about the Export A sponsored Pop Explosion show].

As partly evident by the above mentioned thread, it would take some time to list all the members of the band, member’s new bands, guest performers and bands that shared the stage with Piggy. The circle of people the band alone came in contact with is huge. That’s to say nothing of the couple’s personal relationships within Halifax. And that of the causes they fought for and the friendships made doing so.

One headline [but with few details] stated:
Seven Killed In First 4 Days Of 2007
Woman Killed, Man Shot Holding Baby In Latest Killing Spree

Sadly the family referred to were former residents of Halifax, Helen Hill and Paul Gailiunas.
Helen a filmmaker [with morals] and teacher, and Paul, a doctor who had set up a clinic to help the poor. Parents to a young child.

Six New Orleanians killed in the last day, 12 in the last week
Thursday, January 04, 2007
By Brendan McCarthy
Staff writer, The Times-Picayune

In the sixth murder New Orleans murder in less than a day, a woman was killed and her husband shot in their home this morning at about 5:30 a.m., said New Orleans police, who found the bleeding husband kneeling at the door of the couple’s home, holding their two-year-old son in his arms.

The toddler was not hurt; the husband, 35, underwent surgery at Elmwood/Charity Trauma Center, police said, where his son was also taken for examination. The woman, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The slayings, for which police offered no motive, capped off a wave of bloodshed severe even by New Orleans standards, and comes three days after Police Superintendent Warren Riley called a year-end news conference to put a positive spin on last year’s murder total of 161, which he called the lowest in 30 years. On a per capita basis, however, even the most optimistic projection of the post-flood city’s drastically shrunken population makes that murder rate an increase over previous years.

Including another murder on New Year’s day, the latest violence brings this year’s total to at least seven slayings in four days. Looking at just the past week, murderers have killed at least 12 people.

When I lost immediate family in the past [under circumstances nothing like this], it was suggested I read the book When Bad Things Happen To Good People. I never did, but it’d be nice to think that somewhere there is a method written down to help understand exactly what the title states for times like this. My faith in that being the case though is probably summed up by the fact that I never read the book.

They were wonderful people. Two bright spots in New Orleans. They gave us hope that people could live together. And they’d do anything for anybody
-from another report

Our condolences to the family and friends of Helen Hill.
Our thoughts will be with Paul and his son.

UPDATE: The Halifax Locals thread has been updated with additional media coverage, personal recollections of Helen as well as plans for a memorial service can be found there.
A site has also been put up in Helen’s memory http://helenhill.org/

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