CURRAN, Michael P.
Michael Paul Curran, died peacefully after a long illness on January 2, 2024. He was 81 years old. Michael was born and raised in Allston/Brighton, and while he resided there most of his life, he nevertheless lived a life of adventure. He liked to say that he had traveled 20,000 leagues under the sea, having served seven years in the United States Navy aboard the nuclear submarine USS Nathan Hale. Michael received a B.S. and a Master’s in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and went on to start a van design business (illfated due to the gas crisis of the early 1970s). He followed this endeavor with a much more successful enterprise as an international fish broker, and in this role, he traveled the world again—above the waves this time—from Norway to Nigeria to the Bering Strait (on top of some very stormy waves) and places in between, buying and selling fish by the container load. He loved the high-stakes challenge of having to sell a few tons of fish while it was still fresh. He left a marker for posterity by persuading the FDA to let him sell dogfish under the name “cape shark,” a change that greatly increased its marketability; the new name is used to this day. More recreationally, he loved the challenges of trading in the stock market. He was a whiz at puts and calls and options and penny stocks. He was a pretty darn good poker player as well.
Michael never married or had children, but he loved and was loved by most of the people who knew him throughout his life. His joyful nature and good cheer were infectious. He was the life of every party he attended. More than that, he was a good soul concerned for the planet and his fellow human beings. Even as dementia encroached on him, he filled notebooks with ideas about how the world could be made more peaceful, more just, and more life-sustaining.
Michael was predeceased by his dear friend of many years, Nancy; his parents, Julia and Patrick Curran; his sisters, Mary, Julia, Irene, and Catherine; his brothers, John and Joseph; and by his beloved nephews, Stephen and George Kendall. He leaves behind his nephew, Edward Kendall; and his lifelong friend Julia Glendon. He leaves also his good friends, Lily and Jesse Tillers; and his good buddies, River Tillers, and Ralph, Charles, and Oscar Snyder.
Visitation will be on Tuesday,
January 9, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home, 1803 Centre St., WEST ROXBURY. A Memorial Service, followed by Interment, will be held on Saturday, January 13, at 11 a.m. at the Maguire Chapel, St. Joseph Cemetery, 990 LaGrange St., West Roxbury. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may donate in Michael’s memory to a charity of their choice.