Ken had a certain flair about him. Ask how he was on any given day, and he would answer, "Never been better." This was at AFP, a job he did not love, so that trademark reply conveyed grit, optimism, and a generous helping of irony. He was usually smartly turned out, looking fit, carrying a man purse, his head shaved to a shine. He liked to sip mate from the traditional gourd fitted with a metal straw, and eat tupperware buckets of fresh fruit.

Visit him at home, and another aspect of his world enveloped you -- music. He had an incredible collection of CDs, wide-ranging tastes, an instinct for authenticity of expression. I also remember how one year, an image of a fireplace was drawn in marker on the wall of his sitting room. With that same melancholy humor Ken said it was for Beatriz Elena, who had always wanted a fire place, and how he wanted to give her everything she desired.

He brightened always talking about Eddie, how he and Beatriz Elena fought to get him in a classroom that was the best fit for a bilingual bundle of energy, and how father and son loved to go hiking, overnighting in spots that were just a little too rustic for Beatriz Elena, the two of them savoring their private adventure. He once told the story with evident pride that Eddie, who must have been five or six at the time, had hiked four miles with his shoes on the wrong feet -- "tough little guy." Ken's eyes always shined a bit brighter when he was talking about his son.

Kate Beddall - former AFP colleague