From the age of three, when he discovered the magic world he could
create with crayon on paper, Ken had a satisfactory outlet for his creativity.
He seemed intuitively to understand the mechanics of painting and drawing.
This skill was nurtured by both his father and his grandfather, as was his
fascination with history.
Recurring illness had made school attendance problematic and while
the boy had a brilliantly logical mind, he couldn’t seem to master reading
and writing. Kirkby, Sr. suspected that his son was struggling with what
came to be known as dyslexia. He arranged for private tutors in those
subjects Ken found interesting and, blessed with unstoppable curiosity and
a retentive memory, he flourished in the unusual circumstances.
Undeniably erudite, Ken proudly claims less than one semester of
formal education. Although pronounced a genius by academics and others,
he has refused both Honorary Doctorates and university credits claiming
such window dressing would be no advantage in achieving the goals he has
set for himself.
Scholastic tutors came and served their time, but Ken gives particular
credit to four mentors who endowed him with an outstanding education and,
as he says, influenced the man he became.
He spent much of his youth doing physical work under Francisco’s sharp
eye. The knowledgeable, old fisherman became his tutor in practicalities
and life skills, sharing his duties as village handyman with the boy. Ken was
seven when they first met and in his eyes, the tall, gnarled Portuguese man
was endowed with magical qualities. He lived in an intricately constructed
two-room shack affixed to a cave wall and cantilevered above a reef-bordered
bay. This became Ken’s schoolroom and sanctuary.
Under Francisco guiding hand he learned to read the moods and
warnings of the ocean and the winds, to talk the fish into the pot and to cook
seafood seasoned with spicy piri-piri and a mash of red peppers because, in
the words of the old man, “What woman wants a man who cannot cook?”
Ken learned to shift rocks several times his own size using hand tools and
his logical brain, learning the laws of physics in the process. He set dynamite
and became adept at shooting a gun and jigging for fish before he was ten
years of age.
Hellenic Canadian Literature 