Ken Kirkby: Painter. Raconteur. Fly fisher. Environmentalist. Born Sept. 1, 1940, in London, during an air raid; died June 20, 2023, of cancer in Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island; aged 82.

I stopped to buy newspapers on the way to Ken’s. That was his only request. He wanted to know what the world was up to, even as he was leaving it. He smiled and put the Times Colonist and The Globe and Mail aside, not trying to stand, he was too weak for that, and apologizing for still being in his bathrobe, late in the afternoon. He managed, however, to tell some tall tales featuring himself. He always had time for that.

The last time I’d seen Ken Kirkby full of life he was standing on the porch of the small cabin he liked to ren...