A disturbance in the Force

I guess if Kirk could get on Twitter, Rory MacKay can join the twenty-first Century as well.

These past few days have been flooded with memories of Kirk Wipper and the team of young men with whom I had the opportunity to spend the summers of 1969 to 1971.

When I heard that Kirk had passed away I immediately wanted to be at the funeral itself, so strong was my connection with the man, even though the notice said close friends and family. It had been some time since I saw Kirk, but I had thought of him often. I came to realize how Kirk was always engaged when he was in conversation with a person, or seemed to me to be so in my experience. He gave me the impression, always, that he valued me as a person, as an individual, and as more than just an employee, or just an acquaintance, or just a friend. He gave the impression that I was a close friend; and I suppose that is why my response was as it was when I learned that he had passed.

I have written elsewhere that Kirk trusted in my abilities before I recognized them in myself. I interviewed to work at Kandalore in 1968 and Kirk was prepared to hire me. I decided I wasn't ready to take on the responsibilities he expected. There were other examples while I was at camp. I don't recall Kirk "hovering" to supervise my work. He let me do it, and was there to back me up when needed. I wish all my subsequent employers had been that way.

I recall Kirk's wit. One day he announced to his senior staff that he was going off in search of a particular canoe. I don't recall which one. He said that he would be gone for some time but that he was not concerned, as the camp would be in good hands. He said "My Rod [MacDonald] and my staff shall comfort me." A good line, which I have obviously remembered.

Kirk was very much about the canoe, obviously. There are many other people who are associated with canoes, among them Bill Mason, and Pierre Trudeau. Perhaps because he was an American, I hear less amongst Canadian canoeists about Sigurd Olson. For some reason I associate Kirk with him, or him with Kirk. Both shared a great love of the land and wilderness.
I shared with Kirk a passage from Olson's chapter "The Way of A Canoe" in his book "The Singing Wilderness":

"The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the wind. Silence is part of it, and the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which it floats, the sky, the water, the shores. A man is part of his canoe and therefore part of all it knows. The instant he dips a paddle, he flows as it flows, the canoe yielding to his slightest touch, responsive to his every whim and thought. The paddle is an extension of his arm, as his arm is part of his body.....To the canoeman there is nothing that compares with the joy he knows when a paddle is in his hand."

Kirk liked that. It sounds to me like something that Kirk would have said. It reads like something Kirk would have written. I hope that Kirk left some of his thoughts in writing, whether private thoughts or in speeches, so that someday I may be able to place a biography or volume of his essays on my shelf, right next to Sigurd Olson's books.

In the meantime, perhaps I will learn more about just how important Kirk Wipper was to other members of the Kandalore Nor'Westers. Kirk's death leaves a great hole in the fabric of life. Hearing from others will help fill that gap, in a small way, for me.