Ken was a great inspiration to me. He lived 4 houses away and I was a friend of his children when I was young. It was in his house that I first realised the importance of, and heard, many of the singers he recorded. It was in his house that I first saw a CND sign and banner and he took time to explain to a young child, as I was then, the importance of what he believed. It was with this, and the same message from my father, that I went into the world with the expectation that it was part of my job as a human being to stand up for what I believed in and to stand up for others. So, what do I do now? I am a trade union officer standing up for others and in what I believe. Ken always encouraged me to sing and helped me to remember snatches of tunes. I moved away in 1970 and lost contact. Last year at Bideford Festival as I came off stage a gentleman with long white hair, sitting on the front row, caught my arm and said, 'Did you used to live in Lingfield?' When I said yes he just replied, 'I'm Ken Stubbs'. As part of the performance I had given credit to the people I had learned the songs from and one of them was Ken. I am so pleased that I was able to make contact with him again and this year wrote him a long letter to thank him for what he had done for me and to tell him that he had been, and still was, a great inspiration to me. He was tickled pink by it and referred to it as his fan letter! When I had the call on Monday lunchtime, I went into my garden overlooking the moors and sang 'Life of a Man' for him. It seemed the right thing to do. Earlier this year at his daughters request, I sang the same song for his ex wife at Bideford Festival as she had only died a few weeks earlier.
A quiet and unassuming man, a great man, a great inspiration to me. He will be greatly missed. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to say thank you to him.