excerpt
The fisherman had spent his younger years with the fleet of Portuguese
tall ships that sailed by the hundreds to the Grand Banks off the Atlantic
coast of Canada. There he fished for cod until he was hired on to a whaling
ship harvesting the mammals off the shores of Baffin Island. Francisco
entertained the boy with stories of Eskimos and icebergs, which were
to inspire Ken’s own journey. The unfettered opportunity evoked by the
images of Canada’s Arctic lands fired his imagination. He was determined
that one day he would live in this unlimited land, and against all odds, he
made it happen. In the course of this adventure, he was to be intrinsically
involved in reshaping Canada’s map.
The second important guide in Ken’s early life was Rui Rebelo de
Andrade, a respected architect and friend of Kirkby, Sr.. He was brought in
to guide the boy’s study of art and history. A somewhat introverted man, Rui
seemed to find Ken’s unstructured skill and insatiable questions a delightful
balance to his own disciplined profession.
He was a strong ally when Ken’s uncle pressed to have the boy sent
away to boarding school as a precursor to his grooming to take over the
family’s industrial empire.
“The boy is a true primitif. He has immense talent as well as exceptional
desire,” Rui insisted. “ It would be a crime to interfere with him.”
He arranged Ken’s first sold-out public art exhibition in Lisbon, and, at
sixteen-years old, the young artist was the toast of the cultural elite.
The third and consistently important mentor was his own father who
eased him through the pitfalls of childhood with a mixture of philosophy,
history, politics and common sense.
Ken’s maternal grandfather, James Chesney, was also one of the truly
great men in his life. Don Hymie, as his countrymen referred to him, was
an informed and passionate historian. He was also an astute businessman
with a love of the extensive citrus orchards he had established in Valencia,
and is credited with the development and worldwide marketing of the
famed Valencia Orange. Influenced by his grandfather’s colourful tales of
explorers and adventurers who pushed the boundaries, Ken expanded his
own fondness for ancient history.
My grandfather used beautiful language, as did my dad. The musicality
and sheer beauty of the way words could be strung together made me…
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