Update (3/17/2022):

Uncle Paul (Mom’s older brother and only sibling) passed at 10:08pm last night.

He went (relatively) peacefully in bed with his soulmate Ivana, sister Cathy, brother-in-law Rob, niece Lauren, nephew-in-law Frank, neighbor Don, and nurse Maria at his side.

He was adamant about not wanting any services or fuss.

His work was his life and his legacy. Check out his discography and rock out to a song he worked on in his honor.

Thank you to everyone who’s been helping Uncle Paul and our family the past few months. ❤

–Lauren*

Original Blog Post (3/14/2022):

In mid-December 2021, my family abruptly found out that my maternal uncle, Paul Grupp, had terminal liver cancer and that it was progressing fast. And, indeed, the cancer — which was already so advanced it was inoperable — spread quickly and wreaked massive havoc.

On Christmas Eve, I was told Uncle Paul had “maybe” 8 weeks left to live. He was in the ICU after a particularly bad spell (yep, during Christmas… with no one able to visit him due to Los Angeles’ COVID restrictions… bleak.), and he was sent home the following Tuesday.

He would no longer be able to get help from hospitals. He was too far gone. The only thing left to do was to make him comfortable until the End.

Uncle Paul needed 24/7 hospice care. A more optimistic doctor thought Paul may have “3 to 6 months” left — which was wonderful news in regard to getting to maximizing our extremely limited time with Uncle Paul, but also…very expensive financially.

So, Uncle Paul and two of his friends set up a GoFundMe to cover the imminent costs. And 61 beautiful people donated just over $8,000! (THANK YOU!!).

Good News; Bad News:

It’s now a little over 11 weeks past Christmas Eve! And Uncle Paul is still with us. ♥

…but the funds that were donated are running out.

We’re so grateful that Uncle Paul has been such a cantankerous fighter and managed to stick around longer than anticipated. We know there are several people who love him who’ve been trying desperately to make it out to California to see him before the End and EVERY MOMENT counts!!

Each day he’s still around is a day where someone who cares about him is able to tell him so. Each moment alive gives space for a word to be said that would otherwise be unspoken. For fond memories to be relived/shared…

But each passing day also comes with a monetary bill attached that none of us can afford to pay.

Hospice care is necessary but extremely expensive. Uncle Paul still needs YOUR help in these final days — in order to die safely and (relatively) comfortably.

Impressive Resume Doesn’t Mean Impressive Money

Just as my parents had a heavy hand in the special FX of many of the genre films you may have enjoyed in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Uncle Paul played a major role in much of the music you love.

Another thing my parents and Uncle Paul have in common? No money.

Being a behind-the-scenes creative is rewarding in MANY ways… Finances, from my experience, is not one of them.

Uncle Paul is the reason I’ve never, ever downloaded a song illegally — why I’ve always paid for my music. And, yes, being a teenager in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s with those policies when Napster and Lime Wire were all the rage got me ridiculed a LOT (and I know my peers didn’t appreciate the lectures, especially when they were just trying to share some cool new tunes with me). “Those rockstars have enough money!” right? But the music “stars” aren’t the only people who worked on the songs you love.

Now, seeing Uncle Paul terminally ill, struggling through excruciating pain, in an apartment with no gas… I’m glad I stood my ground. Things are bad – horrible even – but I’m able to face my dying uncle and know I didn’t contribute to him wasting away in poverty. I never knowingly betrayed him, or creatives like him.

Gold and platinum records, Grammy awards, clout… We’re all so proud of Uncle Paul’s work (As is he! As a childless man, his work is his legacy). But none of that has amounted to anything substantial financially — especially not after illegal digital music downloads took their toll on royalties.

If you’re able, please help make Uncle Paul’s final days as comfortable as possible:

It won’t be long now. His organs are rapidly shutting down. He hasn’t been able to eat. And, as of this morning, he’s no longer able to drink water orally.

His 24/7 nurse, Maria, has been an absolute angel and has been taking wonderful care of Uncle Paul in his last days. However, unlike Heavenly angels, Maria lives here on Earth and, therefore, needs to eat and has bills to pay — she needs/deserves to be paid for her work caring for my uncle. And we can’t afford to do so on our own.

If you don’t care about Uncle Paul — as a person, as a creative, or as a byproduct of caring for me as a person/creative — please consider donating to continue paying Maria. ♥

Paul Grupp’s Music Legacy

Paul Grupp was a recording engineer with a hefty discography spanning over forty years (1973-2014).

Some Highlights of Uncle Paul’s music career as a recording engineer:

• Don Ellis – Haiku (1973)
• Linda Ronstadt – Different Drum (1974)
• Boston – Boston (1976)
• KISS/Paul Stanley – Paul Stanley (1978)
• REO Speedwagon – You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish (1978)
• Quarterflash – Quarterflash (1981)
• Air Supply – Hearts in Motion (1986)
• Bernadette Peters – I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (1996)
• Laurie Z – Roots (1997)

And basically every album by The Charlie Daniels Band.

Uncle Paul also worked on several movie soundtrack albums:

• Footloose
• Gremlins
• Streets of Fire (I absolutely LOVE this album!!)
• American Flyers
• My Stepmother is an Alien
• Born on the Fourth of July
• Arachnophobia
• Cry-Baby
• Hope Floats

Paul Grupp was also the recording engineer for The Simpsons’ Yellow Album and Sing the Blues, several albums by The Chipmunks, and a few by The Muppets as well (Kermit Unpigged was a fave of mine in 5th grade!).

If you enjoyed any of the highlighted albums above or any others on his discography (or if you’re a supremely kind/giving soul who just wants to help), please contribute to and/or share Uncle Paul’s GoFundMe.

Thank You

I know this post was unusual. Thank you for reading it. And thank you double if you shared it and/or contributed to Uncle Paul’s care.

Although we haven’t talked about it directly, Uncle Paul has taught me a lot about myself. Our approaches to life and people are very different, but we have a lot in common underneath the surface.

I’ll be returning to my “normal” LittleZotz.com content when I can. In the meantime, I’ve been trying very hard to keep my beloved HorrorFam.com updated. There are new articles and podcasts episodes up.

Thank you again. Please help if you’re able.

–Lauren*

Love you, Uncle Paul. ♥