Meeting Kiff in Vancouver
He's whiter around the head, but still exuding energy as always. Looks increasingly like Pa Holland, but none of his dad's laid-backness here. Instead, there's the old mischievous laughter and gleam in the eye!
That's the picture of Kiff who treated me to sushi today. Ok, the grub is not quite in the league of Happy Acres chicken-a-la-king followed by trifle (nothing can be), but it was still 'blerry lekker', believe me. We met in North Vancouver - close to where he now rents a mega-sized art studio in which he intends to paint giant sized paintings.
This how he spends his time: He runs occasional four day master classes up at Whistler mountain, and enjoys his annual get together with other artists at Painter's Hotel. Recently, he got the second highest votes in the Canadian Society of Watercolour Artists to be part of a panel of judges for an art contest in the US. Appropriate recognition.
Here's what he paints in: (not Crocs, some other brand).
Kiff's also still teaching twice a week at Capilano college (now University), where he's initiated a students' graphic art and painting calender project that earns Canadian dollars 160 000 a year, and funds a student visit to New York annually and a couple of scholarships. No surprises about the man's entrepreneurial prowess!
There have been a couple of moves in the past few years, including out of a flat which he bought after a visit and enjoyed the music being played at the time. Only to find out later that the estate agent had deliberately been drowning out terrible traffic noise. There's also a new partner in his life, a psychologist named Janis, and he plans to bring her and her daughter to see the country that shaped his youth - maybe in the first couple of months next year.
As to Janet's sons, Jeff (Robin) is teaching high school learners, and David advising government lawyers appearing in high-level court cases.
Still bubbling with that youth, he remembers names and details of campers and counsellors far better than me ...and probably many others of us in the HA network.
