Kirkham's genius gave us comfort

Kirkham eventually developed a tent that, once you got the hang of it, was a 10-minute project. All you needed was to remember to start with the center bar along the top. After that, things just snapped together.

In moments, you were opening the screen to let in the breeze.

News of the elder Kirkham's passing was carried in newspapers in Utah, Washington and Oregon. Their readers may not have known him, but they knew and appreciated his work. He held several patents, including the "modular" tent that had separate rooms.

That, too, was a stroke of genius.

Now customers could keep squirmy kids or snoring Uncle Lyle on one side, and themselves on the other.

The Utah National Parks Council has purchased many of Kirkham's tents; so have adventure groups. One outfitter regularly took groups to Micronesia and housed them in Springbars. Scout jamborees use them by the hundreds.

Kirkham's tents have become an outdoor home of the masses.

"I don't know all the locations off the top of my head, but over the years they've been all over the world," said Jack Kirkham Jr.

Which is sort of ironic.

Although his tents have been everywhere under the sun, all Arthur Jack Kirkham really intended was to bring camping a little closer to home.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com