Jack

A few years ago I mentioned to my friend Brian that I'd met Jack Layton. I noted that he seemed like a pleasant fellow, but it was a brief encounter and he didn't really have time to stop to shake hands. So we exchanged pleasantries and went on our ways.

Brian said he had shaken Layton's hand and was struck by how small that paw was. Delicate, even.

Within a year Layton and I came across one another for a second time. In Calgary. Stampede time. Jack was perfunctorily decked out in cowboy duds. This time, I made sure I offered my hand because I wanted to see if Brian was right, wrong, being picky or showing anti-NDP bias. Sure enough, this small hand was enveloped by my medium-sized mitt. The hand was in stark contrast to Layton's square jaw, tanned skin and macho cowboy paraphernalia (Wrangler jeans, shiny boots and garish, big-buckled belt.) Still, the handshake was firm and sincere. His eye contact resolute.

But apart from hands that seemed to be in stark contrast to his vivid, outgoing, engaging personality, Jack Layton was impressive. His conversation was peppered with empathy for his fellow humans, especially those who hadn't been afforded a break in life. Just honest, hard-working folk trying to find their way and provide for their loved ones. My image and opinion of him were reenforced from listening to him talk briefly to a small group of supporters and the curious at the stampede grounds. This, from a guy who (at the time) was fiercely apolitical.

Like most public figures I've come across, Layton was more striking in person than as portrayed and profiled by media.

He seemed to personify compassion. I just had this feeling that he strove to lift people up, to work for a social justice system that valued everyone, not just the successful. I think he deeply cared about Canada, Canadians and narrowing the gap between rich and poor. All admirable traits and aspirations, although his means to those ends were disputed by his opponents.

He often referred to Tommy Douglas, the father of Canadian government-provided health care and himself a feisty campaigner for working stiffs. I think I know why. They were much the same. I know because I got to know Douglas when he relocated from Saskatchewan to Vancouver Island many years ago. The Douglas-Layton similarities were evident to me - sparkling, penetrating eyes; resonant voice; engaging presence; two men of ambition, purpose and healthy egos. Douglas as a whirling Dervish who had more energy in his mid-60s than men half his age. Up until a year ago, Layton was a mirror image of his idol.

Layton leaves us in his 62nd year, ravaged by an insidious, unrelenting disease. Yes sad. But I have a feeling Layton would shrug, smile and say, "hey, that's life. Get on with it."

So we should do what he would want us to do - celebrate his life, toast our own lives, recognize his modest contributions to the Canadian discourse and paint the town orange.

RIP Jack.