Melody Jacobson
May 15, 2024
How Medicine, Music and Community Service Can Power an Incandescent Life
The sounds we leave behind us 鈥 the echo of ourselves 鈥 resound in those who knew us and loved us, and they tell others our story, so we are heard even after each of us passes into the deepest silence.听
Dr. Paula Fayerman, BSc鈥85, MD鈥89, who jolted campus radio with her award-winning Radio show NOISE for more than 30 years, volunteering faithfully in many roles while working as a physician, died in February after being diagnosed with cancer.听听
An uplifting and instructive celebrates her life. The voices and music of friends and colleagues recount her impact on themselves, campus radio, and her contributions to the music and medical and public health communities in Calgary.听听
鈥淪he had a profound influence on the sound of CJSW, likely training more CJSW programmers than just about anyone else in the station鈥檚 history,鈥 says station manager Adam Kamis, BA鈥05. 鈥淗er kindness, enthusiasm and passion were qualities she readily shared with many different generations of CJSW volunteers, staff and listeners.鈥澨听
The best of us wants to do for others as we do for ourselves. It鈥檚 a filament that helps us burn brighter. Dr. Fayerman was that kind of person. We all know someone like her. They are beacons, fixed in our personal landscapes, mercifully there to guide and inspire.听听听
She lived a remarkable life that we may consider as exemplary. She thrived where most of us reside, not on the world stage, but locally, in our communities and work and within our circles of family and friends.听听
Dr. Fayerman 鈥 physician, musician, campus radio den mother, mentor to many and innovative, mix-it-up conjurer of entrancing musical experiments 鈥 loved music, medicine and enlivening the community through volunteering.听听
She established the 鈥檚 medical tent in the late 1990s and ran it for more than 25 years, co-ordinating other doctors and nurses and annually serving a daily audience of 13,000 over four days. When she wasn鈥檛 at the tent, she was helping others discover new bands, always finding some time to flat-out dance, too.听
鈥淲e can all learn from Paula鈥檚 well-roundedness, which was so important to her as a devoted volunteer, talented healer, music lover, traveller, innovator, and lifelong learner,鈥 says Festival artistic director Kerry Clarke, a close friend for more than 30 years. 鈥淭he Folk Festival medical tent was a marriage of her three loves 鈥 medicine, music and community.鈥澨听
Learn the art of listening听
In the early 1990s, Dr. Fayerman played bass in a band with Clarke called GASP. What鈥檚 not to love? These kinds of forays informed her inventive, sometimes cheeky, always wide-ranging radio show, where any astonishing sound could wend its way into the ears of avid listeners.听
The clink of a spoon on a tin mug, the whorl of wind that whips a branch that bangs against a gate at night, the ragged breaths of 10 ballet dancers in a cramped room, the clatter of pots and pans gleefully thrown down hardwood stairs; all could be grist for Dr. Fayerman鈥檚 mill, as she was faithfully grinding out innovative celebrations of NOISE every Thursday at 8:30 p.m. like a hurdy-gurdy magician.听
鈥淪he taught us the art of listening,鈥 says Chad Saunders, BA鈥96, former CJSW station manager and Student Radio Society program director, who is now director of operations and special projects with the . 鈥淲hen Paula did her show, there really was no genre. She showcased and championed the small, but mighty local music scene. She had the most inclusive way to share new sounds and musical selections with listeners that bounced you around the world seamlessly while introducing our ears to a broad range of audio experiences.鈥澨听
Protector of the underdog and sleuth of the underground music scene, wading in and grabbing it by its scruffy lapels to yank it out of the shadows on her show, trauma healer and teacher, confidant to budding radio show hosts and friends and women seeking shelter from hard lives, 鈥淒r. Paula鈥 鈥 as she was known at the Alberta Health Services (AHS) in Calgary and , which addresses the health and social needs of low-income Calgarians 鈥 was a great listener.听
For so many people, so many times, in so many different places, she pushed back her famous mane of white hair, leaned forward, listened, and delicately took the time to care.听听
鈥淧aula was such a caring person that I believe anyone she came in touch with, and who got to talk with her for any length of time, she would change their life in some way 鈥 she was that attentive and giving and generous,鈥 says friend Jeanette Burman, BA鈥10, MEDes鈥18. 鈥淓ven more remarkable, it seems everyone she knew from all the different parts of her life say the same thing. She had so much love. We would break the world if we all loved as much as Paula did.鈥澨听听
Caitlind Brown
How to find rewards beyond awards听
Dr. Fayerman passed amid an nomination, which is the highest honour awarded by the 草莓污视频导航 Alumni Association. Her honours include an award in 2019 by the National Campus-Community Radio Association for Best Classical Music Program. Yet, her accomplishments represent only a glimmer of what she gave to others in her 59 years.听
We all experience the thrill of acknowledgement, though it flares and fades, and we eventually discover that how we empower and help others is recognition that radiantly endures.听
Dr. Maggie Naylor, BSc鈥92, MSc鈥99, MD鈥04, a physician who worked with Dr. Fayerman at both The Alex Youth Clinic and at Sexual and Reproductive Health, and who volunteered with her at the Folk Fest medical tent, shared their love of working with youth and their focus in the areas of mental health, addictions, and trauma. Dr. Fayerman introduced her to many modalities to enhance mental and physical well-being, including mindfulness, Feldenkrais, and somatics, to name a few.听
鈥淧aula was a healer in the truest sense of the word,鈥 says Dr. Naylor. 鈥淚 saw her in action and learned much about how to be with patients and the importance of their wellness and wholeness. She was the embodiment of trauma-informed care, the guiding principles of which are safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment. Anyone who met her could feel these qualities.鈥澨听
At the Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic, Dr. Fayerman had a huge impact on the lives of her patients and colleagues with her grace, wisdom and soft approach. 鈥淪he was a fierce advocate for patients and for human rights,鈥 says Joy Abdool, BN鈥96.听
Arlene Martens, BN鈥01, a Registered Nurse at the clinic, once watched Dr. Fayerman calm a distraught client by guiding her through a meditation, allowing the procedure to move ahead while giving the young woman a practical, lifetime tool for taming anxiety and fear. 鈥淭he transformation was incredible,鈥 says Martens.听听听
鈥淗er approach was forward-looking for her time,鈥 says Donald McSwiney, BA鈥87, director of communications with 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 Faculty of Social Work. 鈥淪he took a compassionate and holistic approach and every day she fought for change. I know everyone鈥檚 anecdotes are just the tip of the iceberg for someone who spent her life in service as a physician, artist, broadcaster and community builder.鈥澨
Chris Dadge
Work, play, transform, repeat听
Dr. Fayerman, who was so often a transformative force for others, could eagerly morph herself from healer to an in-the-moment musician when opportunities arose. She had the verve to do more than welcome and support a good gong show. She鈥檇 jump right into it.听听
Last October, on a day of sloppy rain and wet snow, the show at the Grotto in Calgary welcomed Dr. Fayerman and others to strike 16 gongs and create an immersive sound bath for the audience.听
鈥淧aula was right in there, smiling brightly and just working away on making music,鈥 says Chris Dadge, a Calgary musician, producer, engineer and creator of , an inventive, vanguard phenomenon that may be the epitome of the at-the-edges music scene Dr. Fayerman fervently promoted.听
鈥淢y hands were destroyed, but Paula was giving it her all on the gongs without complaint,鈥 says Dadge, who had invited her to participate in the show. 鈥淪he insisted on helping to clean up afterwards, even after I told her that wasn鈥檛 her job. It was all just peak Paula.鈥听
A certified yoga teacher and yoga therapist, she highlighted the importance of yoga and our understanding of trauma, as well as body-centred psychotherapeutic approaches to health and healing.听
Dr. Fayerman was a writer, too, chronicling the Calgary and area music scene when she wrote for plucky VOX Magazine and upstart alternative Fast Forward Weekly (FFWD) in the 鈥90s, both edited by Ian Chiclo, BA鈥91, who also had a radio show at CJSW.听听听
鈥淭he last time I saw her was probably at the Folk Fest,鈥 says Chiclo. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 done the radio show in quite some time. She told me that she really missed my voice and the show.鈥听
As does everyone who knew Dr. Fayerman, or even knew of her. We really miss her voice. And her show. And the brilliant NOISE of her.听听