Memories

Teresa, Jeff and Faith: I wanted to take a moment to send my deepest condolences to each of you. I will be unable to attend the service for Ken on Monday but my heart will be with you and I too will be remembering….all that made Ken a wonderful person… the smiles, greetings, jokes, the soul reaching photos and horrible sardines and chili offered to anyone who came near the photo department in the old building. My heart aches for your loss and the loss of the blessing that Ken was to so many. God Bless you all and may He give each of you the strength that surpasses all understanding!

Through marriage I was a part of the Chronicle “family” and loved Kenny like the rest of the gang did. I will miss him dearly. He photographed museum exhibits and events and I always knew he would do a great job.

That smile that was always there and he was such a wonderful man. I will so miss passing his car around downtown and waving. PS – His chili was always too hot for me to try.

I hadn’t seen Ken for more than a decade when I received the sad news of his death. I stared at my screen in disbelief and then the sorrow and grief rolled over me, hard. I’m ashamed that I can’t come up with better words to convey this: Ken was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

To a new (but not young) photojournalist like me, he was generous with his time, sensitive with the timing of his help (fresh egos being what they are), smart and caring with his editing help. His mischievous and sometimes absurd sense of humor brought light to the dark room, and his contagious enthusiasm for life showed through in all his takes, and it energized me on those down days.

I remember that Ken would often come in later than I would during some of those multi-sport nights, when I was exhausted from hauling gear, setting up lights, shooting in the heat, re-packing, getting back, souping film, cutting, editing, and preparing to scan. I was always amazed when he’d volunteer to finish up that last scan or caption for me, even though he had to have put in a long day himself. To me, he was always that kind of guy, someone who was happier helping someone else than easing his own burdens.

Ken’s success as a photographer, of course, owed much to his kind, caring, and enthusiastic nature. I learned a lot from his camera-side manner which, as others have noted, was born of his genuine care about his neighbors and community. It was Ken who taught me that, if you wanted to get better pictures from the end of the basketball court, you better make sure you’re friends with the cheerleaders, mascots, moms, and school principal who would all be elbowing for position down there.

Ken became a role model for me in ways beyond photojournalism, too. I remember being over at his house, for dinner I think, and we were in the basement, or wherever the playroom was. Jeff was just a toddler, and Ken had him set up with a little basketball hoop, and Jeff was just sinking toddler threes, one after another, while Ken sat on the floor at the hoop, rebounding and passing them back. I can still see his smile, the love and pride. He looked hypnotized. I remember thinking that if I ever had kids, I wanted to be a dad who played like that, looked like that, felt like that.

Those who spent more time with Ken will doubtless have more to tell. I’ll close by noting that a few months’ time, 15 years past, were enough to secure some amazing, funny, joyous memories of Ken. He’s one of those people who burns bright in my memory, and probably the memories of countless others, even those he met only briefly in the course of a feature photo. I told many people this week that the world was poorer for Ken’s passing. I feel lucky to have spent the time with Ken that I did, and I only hope that memories of Ken’s wonderfulness will help ease the grief for all those who will miss him.

I was privileged to have Ken as one of my first mentors in “the business.” I was a scared freshman, joining the CM LIFE staff as a cub sports reporter in 1983. From Day 1, Ken, already a star photographer, made me feel part of the team. He would offer shouts of encouragement and a high five/chest bump whenever he saw me in the Anspach office. He had an infectious enthusiasm and a positive attitude that made everyone around him better. And he could make me laugh with just one of his looks. Judging from all of the kind words posted about Ken, he didn’t change one bit. A star photographer and an even better person to the end. Ken will be truly missed.

p.s. And Kenny had a Gold Glove at first base for the CM LIFE softball team. I know – because he scooped, stretched and leapt to make outs from my errant throws from third.

Ken and I went to college together. He remained a friend, over all those years. We enjoyed the times we would bump into each other, or send an email. Our sons had the same interests, He was a very good person. Can you say more than that?