Introduction
This website is dedicated to the memory of my lifelong friend Ken Clements.
Years ago Reader’s Digest, a publication of mostly dubious value, used to print in every edition a short profile entitled “My Most Unforgettable Character,” or something like that. By any account Ken Clements would fit that category for many of his friends. And, he did have many friends. Ken was better than almost anyone I’ve ever known at maintaining friendships over long periods of time. Part of that may have been related to the fact that his lived most of his life in nearly the same place.
The first house he knew was On Mount Curve Drive in Altadena where he lived as a child. He moved from home at 19, went off to the Army for a couple of years, did a stint of grad school in Berkeley, and had a few apartments around the Pasadena area. After a divorce Ken’s mother had settled into a house only a couple of blocks from the Mount Curve home, this one on Mount Lowe Drive. When his mother died in 1966 Ken inherited the Mount Lowe house. He live there until he passed away in 2007.
Until his death in 2007 Ken was in regular contact with “kids” from his childhood neighborhood, some of whom also still lived within blocks of where they all grew up.
Those were not the only friendships that he nurtured over decades. One was me, and to be sure it was reciprocated. Others were friends he met at work, through his travels, or through common interests in things like music.
One thing unique thing about Ken and his friendships, was that he kept them separated, almost compartmentalized. Over the years I had met a few of them, some only once, others more than once. But, I think that was the exception rather than the rule. Most of the people I know through Ken had never met any other of his friends, except for maybe a few that they knew in common from a work, or other situation.
A part of the reason for this memorial website is to allow the many people who knew Ken Clements an opportunity to see more of the “whole” Ken. He was truly an unforgettable character.
Larry Luckham
December, 2008