Ken Wilkins was born in Chicago and raised just south of Rockford Illinois.

 

After high school, Wilkins attended Wheaton College for a semester until he enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II.   He was stationed in New Orleans honoring heroes who were coming home from the war by writing news articles for their respective hometown newspapers and taking their photos. After the war, he finished at Wheaton College with a B.A in Cultural Anthropology.

 

In 1950, Wilkins married and moved to California and received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Masters of Education from

L.A. City college, today known as California State University, Los Angeles.

 

Through the course of his career, Ken Wilkins started an elementary school for nationals in Ethiopia. Wilkins recalls:  "I started a school for Ethiopian children in the Ogaden Desert. I started with a class of about 20 boys ages 8-22. I taught ESL to the police, soldiers and Arab shop keepers at night."

 

Home in the USA, he taught in LAUSD, spent thirty years as a science consultant for a government sponsored program, and spent over twenty summers as a science instructor for the Museum of Science and Industry.  His literary accomplishments include a published children’s book called "Marvin’s Mansion" and a variety of works including poetry and short stories published in Ellery Queen Mystery magazine and several CWC anthologies.

 

Wilkins has been a CWC member since the 1990’s and continues to be a valued member for his literary work and his photography for special events and the newsletter.

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