It will never cease to amaze me how many lives Ken Stevens touched, he is truly one of the best people I’ve had the opportunity to meet. He opened his home to me and made me feel like family when I was an intern in an unfamiliar place. I will never forget his smile while editing a building mug, telling us about the clip contest winner he was working up. It was not in his nature to complain. Ken’s words of encouragement will always echo, “shoot ’em up.”
Kenneth Stevens Memories
From Hye Soo Nah
Sending prayers from Seoul, South Korea
From Garrett Cortese
I have been out of the country the past few days and was heartbroken to get on the lodge’s wifi this AM and learn of Ken Stevens’ passing.
When I was lucky enough to be an intern photographer for the Muskegon Chronicle in the winter/spring of 2005 I got to work with and learn from Ken on a daily basis. I have met a lot of people over the years throughout my travels, but I have never met another Ken. A dedicated father, selfless beyond words, kind, funny, and an unbelievably talented journalist. To give me something to do on the weekends (there wasn’t much going on in Muskegon in March) he’d take me to his house for a home-cooked meal or to his son’s little league games – and I always had a blast playing catch with him and his son. I learned a lot from Ken in my few months in western Michigan, and it was much more than just picture-taking skills.
My heart goes out to Ken’s family and friends, the Chronicle family, and everybody who feels a little less complete with him being gone. Thanks Ken for the advice, mentoring, laughs, and late night popcorn/Chex-Mix combo in the photo department.
From Jeffrey Sauger
I’m so sorry for your family’s loss. Nearly every post I’ve read talks about Ken’s kindness. They’re not exaggerating; he was genuine.
Being a naive, young kid at CM Life in the late 80’s, Ken was one of my first mentors. I never did get that coveted spot interning at The Chronicle, but, luckily I was a Chip, a Boothie and got to become one of his friends. In critiques he was firm, constructive, of course kind, but, never cut me slack. Like the picture Robert Allan Barclay posted, those times where we all got to converge at the same assignment, usually on the sidelines in The Mountain Town, are still some of my fondest memories. We never stopped talking and laughing and Ken never missed “the moment,” as we’d find out in the next day’s Chronicle.
I aspired to be as good a photographer, but, more so to figure out that graceful balance and sense of contentment he had.
Some other memories of Ken: that funny looking Canon Mirror (500?) lens for feature hunting when I got to spend the day shadowing him. The smile. Prints on the back of CM Life’s darkroom door. The gentle kindness he possessed…and beneath that all-American, kid next-door persona were some of the funniest, dirtiest jokes I’d ever heard. He helped take my training wheels off in photojournalism.
You’re in my family’s thoughts and prayers.
From Brandon Champion
I wasn’t in the The Muskegon Chronicle newsroom yesterday, but as I sit here today, the absence of Ken Stevens is impossible to miss.
After talking to my fellow colleagues one thing has become clear. Ken was universally respected and loved as a photographer, but more importantly, as a person. If there’s one thing I’ll remember about Ken, it’s the way he went about his business each and every day.
He was seemingly always enthusiastic and did everything with a smile, even on days when things weren’t going so well. His passing has made me take a big step back and realize that I need to appreciate what everything I have like he did.
I need to approach every day with that enthusiasm and that smile, because every day is a blessing. I truly think Ken understood that. I’m very lucky have had the chance to know him for as long as I did. I’m a better person for it.
Pictured here is a bucket of popcorn that’s permanently stationed in the newsroom. Ken would fill it with Wesco popcorn on a nearly daily basis, always announcing “Fresh Corn!”
Why?
Because he wanted to, and he knew it made people happy. It’s just one example of the small acts of kindness he did every day.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family. May you rest in peace….
From Cindy Hasbrouck Schultz
I’m shocked and saddened to learn that our friend Ken Stevens is no longer with us. He was a great friend, mentor, photographer and human being. I was blessed to get a much coveted internship in the fall of 1995 at The Muskegon Chronicle. That time working with Ken, Lisa, Brian, Dave and Greg was magical. Best photo staff ever. My heart goes out to Ken’s family and to all who loved him.