Keith Ralston, historian of British Columbia and mentor to scores of students in that field, died recently at 87. There is a memorial service in Vancouver today.
When I was an undergraduate at UBC, students called him "Mr." Ralston, aware by osmosis he was somehow a little outside the normal tenure-track academic career. Now, seeing more of his career, that seems a badge of honour. Ralston was a journalist, an labour activist, a school teacher, and the founding curator of Vancouver's standout Maritime Museum before joining the history department (about the time I became a student there).
