I am deeply saddened today. The American Cichlid Association Facebook group announced yesterday evening (EST) that Dr. Paul Loiselle had passed away. Author and expert on so many subjects, including cichlids, Dr. Loiselle was deeply rooted in the hobby. I didn’t know him very well. In fact, I had just met him this past November at the Ohio Cichlid Association (ACA) annual Extravaganza.
However, I am grateful that I not only had the honor of meeting him but also the privilege of talking with him for over an hour at the Extravaganza. We sat in the hotel lobby and talked about everything from the Julidochromis genus to the do’s and don’ts of starting a local fish club.
Dr. Loiselle was truly an icon in the aquarium fish community. A founding member of the American Cichlid Association and longtime Fellow, he was instrumental in so many cichlid-related initiatives, especially conservation efforts. He founded the ACA’s Paul V. Loiselle Conservation Fund, which annually awards funding for research and various cichlid related programs.
As an expert on Madagascar species, he was also the Madagascar Regional Coordinator for CARES and co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) Madagascar Region Freshwater Fish Specialty Group.
He was a remarkable man. To truly understand his impact on the hobby, simply do a Web search on his name.
My last correspondence with him was in January of this year. He was set to do an interview for the blog. In fact, he was in the process of answering interview questions I had sent him.
I was aware he had been ill but was under the impression he was getting better. News of his passing is truly disheartening to me, the hobby, his family, and numerous friends. The hobby was much better with him in it.