Doug Boljahn and the Sweet and Dreamy Loss of Gain

This is Doug Boljahn. In high-school, he told me, he was a shy, not good with sports and was bullied. He wanted badly to hang out with the cool kids. In tenth grade he started reading Proust (because he thought that it will impress girls). He carried the book around showing it off (it worked and some girls were indeed dazzled). In his search of being original and different he started taking dance classes. Doug's business cards read "Dancer" and on the back there were two of his favorite questions/answers from Proust's Questionnaire (1890 version).

Q: Your favorite qualities in a man? A: Feminine charm

Q: Your favorite qualities in a woman? A: Manly virtues, and the union of friendship

At university he studied European Literature and wrote his thesis on Proust. He landed a teaching position at a private boys-only school in Toronto where he also organized dance classes. Doug has lung cancer from smoking a pack a day since he was thirteen and doesn't think he'll last till Bank Holiday. He said he loved his life as he found two things to be passionate about when most people just drift meekly toward nothingness and death. He acknowledged that it started of vanity and desperation but he was very pleased at how well it turned out. (Resigned of dying of a lung disease like Proust he calls it "Dancing with Marcel").