RIP Ken (Khen) Moore
Posted By Kathleen David on July 2, 2009
I first encountered Ken at a ChattaCon. ChattaCon is held in the dead of winter and Ken was wearing these beat up cut-off shorts, a very worn t-shirt, and holding a glass with some amber beverage in it. He was a tall skinny man with a shock of grey hair. I met him the same weekend I met Bob Tucker. Ken was part of Southern Fandom and ran a very good convention called Kubla Khan in Nashville.
Ken, or Khen as he was called, had a number of passions in his life including trains, good booze, and art. He could tell you fantasy art and the history of fantasy art with such passion in his voice. He was the tour guide for one of my first art show tours. He could tell you all kinds of things about the paints and the artists. He would have us look at brush strokes and how the artist composed the painting. I thought for years he was an art teacher until I found out that his day job was working for the railroad. I always made time to go hear Khen talk about art.
The symbol for Kubla Khan was this loopy looking crow that looked like Khen. Various people did various interpretations of the character but it usually had a propeller beanie and a “cigarette” hanging from its mouth. The awards for the costume contest were these stuffed crows which were very much coveted by costumers to have in their collection.
I will miss Khen. I haven’t seen him in years but his name came up from time to time with various folk and we remembered him fondly.
I am grateful that I knew Khen and I learned so much about fantasy art from him.
Thanks for printing this. I’ve seen little notice of Khen’s passing, odd in light of all his years in fandom and everything he did. I was told Khen worked on the B-1 bomber, and he had a security clearance that didn’t allow him to leave the country.
One of my strongest memories of him were at one Midwestcon when he decided to take a nap, and needed to be somewhere a few hours later. He gave me his key with the request I wake him up later. So I show up several hours later, and attempt to wake him. Yelling didn’t work. Yelling next to him didn’t work. Shaking him didn’t work. So I dropped off the key and left, and Khen ended up sleeping through his appointment.
Hmm, I wonder how they found out he was dead?
Kathleen, I’m putting a quick tribute (submissions and postings by fans) to Khen in my fanzine Askance, which should be posted to efanzines.com at some point next week. Can I use your posting in here as part of the tribute? Please e-mail me with your answer, and if you know what Ken’s birthdate or birthyear is, I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you!
It’s hard to believe that Khen is gone. Khen was always a larger than life figure at Southern conventions, and I have attended many a swill party with Khen dishing out the green or orange concoction from a waste bucket. (Well, sometimes from a punch bowl, but those were “classier” room parties.) Although I only saw him at conventions, we were friends. And he could always be counted on to help out when anything needed done.
Khen will be dearly missed. But I understand an Irish wake will be held in his honor at Libertycon. And I couldn’t image a better venue to pay tribute to him than one of last remaining Southern conventions. And though we won’t with us in body, I won’t put it past him to still drop by and maybe spike the punch.
God’s speed, Khen. I wouldn’t have missed knowing you for the world.
Kathleen,
To make a correction to your tribute, Khen did not work for the railroad. Aside from SF fandom and especially art, Khen’s passion was AIRPLANES. I knew him for some 40 years, and until the last couple of years, due to poor health, he had never missed the annual Experimental Aircraft Assn. fly-in at Ashkosh since the early 60s. Before his retirement a few years ago as an inspector he worked for AVCO, later called Textron, including inspecting the wings for the B1-B stealth bomber. We in the Nashville SF Community will miss him a great deal. Oh, and that “amber liquid” in Khen’s beer mug was Scotch (most often Vat 69) on the rocks.
Kathleen,
To make a correction to your tribute, Khen did not work for the railroad. Aside from SF fandom and especially art, Khen’s passion was AIRPLANES. I knew him for some 40 years, and until the last couple of years, due to poor health, he had never missed the annual Experimental Aircraft Assn. fly-in at Oshkosh since the early 60s. Before his retirement a few years ago as an inspector he worked for AVCO, later called Textron, including inspecting the wings for the B1-B stealth bomber. We in the Nashville SF Community will miss him a great deal. Oh, and that “amber liquid” in Khen’s beer mug was Scotch (most often Vat 69) on the rocks.
Kathleen, the funeral was yesterday. Wish you and Pete had been able to see it. Very little sadness, because Khen would’ve groused about everybody weeping over him, so stories about his craziness were told instead, by fans who knew him, and fellow aviators who flew with him.
Khen wasn’t with the railroad. The decor of the hotel may have thrown you. Khen was an aeronautical engineer and quality control inspector for AVCO Aircraft. Among other things they worked on, he built B-2 flying wing bombers.
Tales were told that had us all on the floor; the mashed potatoes banquet, display-only orange juice, “Dammit, go paint!’, the ratty Volkswagen and the gas can, and many others, told by Steve & Sue Francis, Charlie Williams, Vance Martin, Samandu Jeude and others. And Khen’s grace and generosity shone brightly.
Even if we did have to limit ourselves to stories that were G-rated.
Khen was born on August 19, 1942. For my money, he died far too young. I only knew him in passing, but it seemed like every con I went to, he was there. I’m not as active in fandom as I don’t have the money anymore, but it’ll be strange going to cons and not seeing him there. But as long as we tell stories about him, he’ll be around.
Miles