Paul Mark McGrath
August 21, 1946-December 3, 1990
John Curry, Paul McGrath and Toller Cranston. Photo courtesy "Tracings" magazine.
Mission Hill, Massachusetts' Paul McGrath discovered figure skating at the age of twelve after a successful stint as a step dancer. He bought his first pair of skates - three sizes too small - at a rummage sale for fifty cents. It wasn't long after he first took to the ice that people started recognizing that he had something special: a striking ability to interpret music. He joined the Commonwealth Figure Skating Club and supplemented his usual training with ice time at the Skating Club Of Boston. Coached by World Champion Montgomery 'Bud' Wilson and Cecilia Colledge, he won the silver medal in the novice men's event at the 1962 U.S. Championships. In 1965 at the age of eighteen, he won the Eastern and U.S. junior men's titles. In the latter event, he landed a triple jump, which was unheard of in the junior ranks nationally at the time. He turned professional in 1967 and won three silver medals at the W.D. & H.O. Wills World and British Open Professional Championships in England. In 1975 and 1977, he won the World Professional Championships in Jaca, Spain. He went on to perform in John Curry's "Theatre Of Skating" at the Cambridge Theatre in London and teach at The Skating Club of Boston. As a coach and choreographer, he worked with an array of champions included Priscilla Hill, Sheryl Franks and Michael Botticelli, Jill Frost and Michael Chack. He passed away on December 3, 1990 at the age of forty-four.
Left photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine. Right photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
Paul's obituary from "The Boston Globe": "Paul McGrath, a coach at the Skating Club of Boston and the world professional figure skating champion in 1974 and 1977, died of liver cancer yesterday at Youville Hospital, Cambridge. He was 44 and lived in Medford. Mr. McGrath, a native of Boston's Mission Hill, won the US junior men's championship in 1965 at age 18, six years after he had skated for the first time. Since the late 1970s he had won acclaim as an inspiring teacher and innovative choreographer. 'McGrath understands that skaters need to stand tall and use their arms authoritatively, not just toss off tricks,' the Globe's dance critic, Christine Temin, wrote of a number he choreographed for a 1984 show by the Boston skating club. 'More importantly, he understands that the most seductive thing about skating is the sheer speed and space it involves.' Mr. McGrath graduated from Newman Preparatory School and attended Emerson College. During the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, he served as an analyst for ABC Sports. He leaves his parents, Francis J. and Catherine V. (Linehan) McGrath of Medford, and a sister, Mary M. Hir of North Billerica."
*Source for inclusion: "When Hell Freezes Over, Should I Bring My Skates?", Toller Cranston, Martha Lowder Kimball, 2000
