732 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2022
decades. Bob met Keith on the first day of law school while waiting in line
to register. During their time in the slow-moving line, Keith gently and notso
gently questioned Bob about his background. At the end of the examination,
Bob felt that his entire history had been discovered. Little did Bob
know that this introductory experience of being cross-examined by Keith
would put in sharp focus a case in which Keith set a Fraser Region record
many years later, when he cross-examined an accused for 19 days on the
way to obtaining a first-degree murder verdict. More on this later.
During his third year at law school, Keith was the manager of the newly
opened “Law House”, located in an early 20th century three-storey brick
house across the street from the courthouse in Kingston and within two
blocks of the law school. The main floor of the house was effectively a common
room where classmates met and enjoyed a break between and after
classes. One of Keith’s first accomplishments as house manager was the
conversion of a Pepsi vending machine to a beer vending machine. National
Lampoon’s Animal House was not released until 1978, but many of the
events depicted at “Animal House” in the movie were originally staged
years earlier at Law House.
Law House was also a residence. Keith, one of the residents, suggested
that all six residents participate in a “supper club”, where each Monday one
of them would prepare a dinner for the others. All went well until it was
Keith’s turn to prepare the dinner. His first dinner presentation was a meal
of roasted pigs’ feet or, as he called them, “trotters”. When the rest of the residents
questioned his choice, Keith admonished them for their backgrounds
in “the high life” in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and even Thunder Bay, living
“too high on the hog” and “that it was time to see how the real people in
Canada (Saskatchewan) lived”. His second turn at hosting a dinner had as a
main course fried beaver steaks, which he found in a freezer in a local fish
store. Beaver, an aquatic rodent, has a very strong fishy smell, and Keith’s
five housemates collectively left the building without eating his prepared
dinner. Needless to say, that was the end of the Law House supper club.
This episode was a precursor to Keith’s regular demonstration of his
sense of theatre and humour. You were never sure whether he was pulling
your leg or was seriously introducing you to prairie life. Likely he had both
goals.
Keith enjoyed broad interests in people and history and was a genuine
and reliable source of information on many topics. You could always count
on Keith giving fair warning for an upcoming celebration, whether it be Guy
Fawkes Day, Robbie Burns Day, Beaujolais Nouveau Day or an anniversary
of a Grey Cup win by his beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders.