A message from Cindy Lee Berryhill, singer-songwriter and wife of Paul Williams, was posted earlier this morning on her Facebook page, an update from the previous night: “Rock-writer Paul S. Williams, author and creator of CRAWDADDY magazine, (and my husband), passed away last night 10:30pm PST while his oldest son was holding his hand and by his side. It was a gentle and peaceful passing.”
http://cindyleeberryhill.blogspot.com/2013/03/paul-williamscrawdaddy-day-boo-hooray.html
RockCritics.com 
Sad to hear. Didn’t have a deep personal connection to his writing, but he’s one of those “this-would-be-unthinkable-without-him” figures in rock criticism –one of the handful you can say that about, really.
Billboard was actually good about covering this, featuring a terrific photo: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/global/1554929/paul-williams-crawdaddy-founder-godfather-of-rock-criticism-dead-at