Nothing is sacred in the hands of humorist Gordon Kirkland. From video arcades to vasectomies, wheel chairs to weight control and mega-stores to marriage, Kirkland exposes the foibles of daily living with hilarity and honesty.
In 1990, Kirkland sustained a severe spinal injury in a golfing accident--his car was rear-ended while he was on his way to a golf course ("It really screwed up my handicap"). In the years following his accident, laughter helped him cope with the stress and pain of his slow and difficult recovery, and the knowledge that he would not be able to walk again without the assistance of forearm crutches.
Here's Kirkland's unique sense of humor and outlook on life in the '90s. Meet "commutus obnoxiousi," more commonly known as Other Drivers ("The male of the species is sometimes called the Wet-lapped Swerver, because he tries to simultaneously steer, hold a coffee, answer the cellular phone and insert a stress reduction cassette tape into the stereo"). Or one of Kirkland's sons, "a teenage-grocery-sucking-appetite-on-legs" who is being taught to drive by his mother ("Diane gave me a very important duty to take care of while she and Mike are out driving. I'm in charge of hosing down the driveway every day. She wants the ground she'll be kissing to be clean when she gets home"). And Kirkland himself, enthusiastic and downright irrepressible, who, having been told that it takes fewer muscles to laugh than to cry, and being committed to energy conservation, chose to give his readers the chance to laugh with him, at him, and hopefully, at themselves.
Gordon Kirkland, born in Toronto in 1953, held management and executive positions both in private industry and the Canadian federal government before becoming a humor columnist and freelance writer over five years ago. His syndicated weekly column, "At Large," is a regular feature in a growing number of Canadian and American newspapers. Kirkland is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the BC Paraplegic Association. He lives in Pitt Meadows, BC with his wife Diane, two teenage sons, two cats and the dumbest dog to ever get lost on a single flight of stairs.
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