excerpt
He’d challenged and survived academics, politicians, dictatorships
and the Arctic. He had crammed more into one lifetime than most of us
could manage in twice that time. So, what had brought this man to the edge
of the precipice, broken in spirit and health? It was a fairly human condition.
By all accounts, Ken Kirkby has a magnetic personality, a charming
nature and a wicked sense of humour. His green eyes twinkle with
devilment or deepen with feeling when he is sharing some discovery. For
all his intensity, he exhibits a hint of vulnerability. In short, he is a man who
appeals to women. This may be because he likes an appreciative audience,
and women like to be liked. Men on the other hand relate more to the fearless
buccaneer that lurks just beneath the surface.
There has been no shortage of women in his life, most of them for limited
duration. And then in 1987, he met Karen. She was a brilliant lawyer with
a solid reputation in Toronto’s legal circles. She was also petite, beautiful,
and intelligent—a lethal combination for Ken. She, in turn, was attracted by
the drive and passion exuded by this unconventional, high-energy, painter.
Ken imagined he had, at last, found a woman who was not only his
equal, but who was not dead set on changing him into a three-piece suit
working at a ‘real’ job. They were living in Toronto, and it was a hectic
time. He was preparing to launch his epic work of art, the astonishingly
beautiful Isumataq, an oil-on-canvas painting measuring 152 feet long by
12 feet high. His dream for Isumataq was to bring to public attention the
case for justice and fair treatment for the voiceless Canadians living in the
largely overlooked north. He had embarked on this project as a means of
fulfilling a promise made to an Inuit grandmother some thirty years earlier,
during his time in the Arctic.
He and Karen were totally smitten with each other. She was a selfinvolved
and ambitious woman but, occupied as he was with the shifting
political scene in the north, and intent on keeping the Inuit story fresh for
television and the print media, Ken seemed utterly unaware that when she
came onto the scene, many of his closest friends quietly drifted away.
After several idyllic years, the dynamics of their life together began to
change. In 1992, Karen announced that she wanted to pursue a new career
and suggested they move to Vancouver where she could function most
effectively as an environmental lawyer. Toronto was no longer fulfilling her
professional needs. Besides, she reasoned, Ken always seemed so happy…
Libros Libertad 