Paul McGrath, a coach at the Skating Club of Boston and theworld professional figure kating champion in 1974 and 1977, died ofliver cancer yesterday at Youville Hospital, Cambridge. He was 44and lived in Medford.
Mr. McGrath, a native of Boston's Mission Hill, won the USjunior men's championship in 1965 at age 18, six years after he hadskated for the first time.
Since the late 1970s he had won acclaim as an inspiringteacher and innovative choreographer.
'McGrath understands that skaters need to stand tall and usetheir arms authoritatively, not just toss off tricks,' the Globe'sdance critic, Christine Temin, wrote of a number he choreographedfor a 1984 show by the Boston skating club.
'More importantly, he understands that the most seductivething about skating is the sheer speed and space it involves.'
Mr. McGrath graduated from Newman Preparatory School andattended Emerson College.
During the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, he servedas 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.
A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in the MissionChurch, Roxbury. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford. JTAYLO;12/03 NKELLY;12/04,14:53 MCGRAT04
