Hi Patty! That Is great photo! Sending my love and sympathy to you and yours. I have many fond memories of time spent with your Dad and Linda, including Amherst and Arhus, as well as Olympia. Take care!
Ken had a life-long impact on my life. He was the first professor at Evergreen that took the time to mentor me. His belief in my abilities far outweighed my own. Sometimes that all it takes for a true teacher, recognizing possibilities in people. To this day, I always mention Ken as the best example of a teacher/mentor. After I graduated from TESC I have fond memories of working with Linda and ken on local political issues in Olympia. He put his ideas into action!
Ken also recognized working class students’ struggles in a college environment. He would take us aside, ask about our backgrounds and give us positive feedback about our ideas which were often based on experience rather then academics. His mentorship gave us the confidence to dive toward a deeper understanding of the world around us, and of course we had to read his books!!! The world is a better place because of Ken. My deepest condolences to his family.
Ken left a bright mark on my development of political thought, although I had only a brief time getting to know him while he lived in Olympia. Ken perpetually brought us new political ideas and a sharp analysis of contemporary thought. Ken taught me about proportional representation. I admired his life of intellectual exploration. Ken was a good guy, and an enjoyable conversationalist with good tales, and an interest in others’ life experiences. He will be missed. We can continue to visit him through his body of work, and our dreams of creating a political revolution with him. My condolences to Ken’s family.
I remember Ken. He was instrumental in the Jesse Jackson 1988 campaign in Thurston County, the almost takeover of the county Democratic Party, and from there the founding of the local Rainbow Coalition. It’s not often one can recall a 30-year-old conversation, but I do remember one I had with Ken on the Japanese asset price bubble in 1989. There are a few who leave marked pages in other’s lives and Ken was one of those people.
When Bethany and I along with our two small kids, JD Ross and Chad, arrived in Olympia in 1984, Ken and Linda, Jake and Matt were our host family. They fed us, entertained us and Jake and Matt played with our kids. Linda introduced us to the progressive politics of Olympia and Ken introduced me to the Evergreen State College. Years later, in 1995, when our son JD had enough of living in Mexico, Ken and Janette hosted our family again by welcoming JD into their home while we remained in Mexico. Ken was the Director of the Graduate Program in Public Administration and I was a brand new faculty member. Ken was my mentor. He taught me how to set up a learning environment within the context of the MPA program and Evergreen. He was a master learner and teacher. The clarity of his thinking was a wonder to behold. Everyone knew his brilliance, but he did not hold it on anyone. When I wanted to start a Labor Center at Evergreen, Ken showed me how to use the “public service portion” of my faculty time to do just that. In 1987, Evergreen established the state’s first Labor Education and Research Center and Ken played a key role in making that possible. He also stayed with us over the years and gave many inspiring talks to workers at the Labor Center’s conferences and summer schools. A friend of Ken’s told me Ken was someone who recognized the potential in people, listened to them carefully and then pushed them to pursue their interests. That was certainly true for me. One small story. When the Berlin Wall came down, Ken was overseas on a fellowship. I joined him in Berlin and we rented a new Mercedes in East Berlin and headed to Prague. Prague was supposedly full of tourists and out of hotel space. Nevertheless, we pulled up to the main hotel on Wenceslas Square. Ken, always a sharp dresser, entered the hotel, put down our passports and said we could pay with dollars and asked if they had a room. We got the a beautiful room with a balcony facing Wescelas Square! It was also in Prague that Ken and I participated in our first general strike. While we were shopping, we were gently pushed out into the street by the shop owner. The streets were packed and everyone took out their keys and for fifteen minutes, they rang them to demand a return to public ownership of property. Thanks to Linda, Janette, Matt and Jake for sharing Ken with us.
Ken was an important teacher for me at the University of Wisconsin in 1966-68, where I majored in Political Science as an undergrad and got an MA after that.
We spent a lot of time talking about civil rights and the war and the draft. It was a time of enormous and quick change. I shared my experiences at Selma, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, SNCC, The
Wisconsin Draft Resistance Movement, and my summer as an intern in the Johnson White House. Along with Professor Davis he sponsored my master’s thesis topic on the Supreme Court Prayer decision. He was an early academic proponent of concept that the Court has ALWAYS been political, documenting the various legal contortions used to disguise that reality. Very prescient.
I left for Canada in 1968. So glad I did.
This is the favorite picture Dad was talking about.
Hi Patty! That Is great photo! Sending my love and sympathy to you and yours. I have many fond memories of time spent with your Dad and Linda, including Amherst and Arhus, as well as Olympia. Take care!
Ken had a life-long impact on my life. He was the first professor at Evergreen that took the time to mentor me. His belief in my abilities far outweighed my own. Sometimes that all it takes for a true teacher, recognizing possibilities in people. To this day, I always mention Ken as the best example of a teacher/mentor. After I graduated from TESC I have fond memories of working with Linda and ken on local political issues in Olympia. He put his ideas into action!
Ken also recognized working class students’ struggles in a college environment. He would take us aside, ask about our backgrounds and give us positive feedback about our ideas which were often based on experience rather then academics. His mentorship gave us the confidence to dive toward a deeper understanding of the world around us, and of course we had to read his books!!! The world is a better place because of Ken. My deepest condolences to his family.
Ken left a bright mark on my development of political thought, although I had only a brief time getting to know him while he lived in Olympia. Ken perpetually brought us new political ideas and a sharp analysis of contemporary thought. Ken taught me about proportional representation. I admired his life of intellectual exploration. Ken was a good guy, and an enjoyable conversationalist with good tales, and an interest in others’ life experiences. He will be missed. We can continue to visit him through his body of work, and our dreams of creating a political revolution with him. My condolences to Ken’s family.
I remember Ken. He was instrumental in the Jesse Jackson 1988 campaign in Thurston County, the almost takeover of the county Democratic Party, and from there the founding of the local Rainbow Coalition. It’s not often one can recall a 30-year-old conversation, but I do remember one I had with Ken on the Japanese asset price bubble in 1989. There are a few who leave marked pages in other’s lives and Ken was one of those people.
When Bethany and I along with our two small kids, JD Ross and Chad, arrived in Olympia in 1984, Ken and Linda, Jake and Matt were our host family. They fed us, entertained us and Jake and Matt played with our kids. Linda introduced us to the progressive politics of Olympia and Ken introduced me to the Evergreen State College. Years later, in 1995, when our son JD had enough of living in Mexico, Ken and Janette hosted our family again by welcoming JD into their home while we remained in Mexico. Ken was the Director of the Graduate Program in Public Administration and I was a brand new faculty member. Ken was my mentor. He taught me how to set up a learning environment within the context of the MPA program and Evergreen. He was a master learner and teacher. The clarity of his thinking was a wonder to behold. Everyone knew his brilliance, but he did not hold it on anyone. When I wanted to start a Labor Center at Evergreen, Ken showed me how to use the “public service portion” of my faculty time to do just that. In 1987, Evergreen established the state’s first Labor Education and Research Center and Ken played a key role in making that possible. He also stayed with us over the years and gave many inspiring talks to workers at the Labor Center’s conferences and summer schools. A friend of Ken’s told me Ken was someone who recognized the potential in people, listened to them carefully and then pushed them to pursue their interests. That was certainly true for me. One small story. When the Berlin Wall came down, Ken was overseas on a fellowship. I joined him in Berlin and we rented a new Mercedes in East Berlin and headed to Prague. Prague was supposedly full of tourists and out of hotel space. Nevertheless, we pulled up to the main hotel on Wenceslas Square. Ken, always a sharp dresser, entered the hotel, put down our passports and said we could pay with dollars and asked if they had a room. We got the a beautiful room with a balcony facing Wescelas Square! It was also in Prague that Ken and I participated in our first general strike. While we were shopping, we were gently pushed out into the street by the shop owner. The streets were packed and everyone took out their keys and for fifteen minutes, they rang them to demand a return to public ownership of property. Thanks to Linda, Janette, Matt and Jake for sharing Ken with us.
Ken was an important teacher for me at the University of Wisconsin in 1966-68, where I majored in Political Science as an undergrad and got an MA after that.
We spent a lot of time talking about civil rights and the war and the draft. It was a time of enormous and quick change. I shared my experiences at Selma, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, SNCC, The
Wisconsin Draft Resistance Movement, and my summer as an intern in the Johnson White House. Along with Professor Davis he sponsored my master’s thesis topic on the Supreme Court Prayer decision. He was an early academic proponent of concept that the Court has ALWAYS been political, documenting the various legal contortions used to disguise that reality. Very prescient.
I left for Canada in 1968. So glad I did.
Jon