1 Kenneth E. Nilsen (1947–2012): Gaisgeach nan Gàidheal (Champion of the Gaels) Natasha Sumner Ken Nilsen was a highly respected scholar whose deep commitment to the teaching and preservation of Celtic languages and cultural tra- ditions left a lasting legacy. From his early forays into language learn- ing as a youth in Brooklyn, NewYork, Ken set out to seek the Celtic tongues in their native and diaspora milieux, earning a PhD in Celtic Languages and Literatures from Harvard along the way, and becom- ing the first holder of the Sister Saint Veronica Chair in Gaelic Stud- ies at St Francis Xavier University (stfx) in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. A quintessential public scholar, his dedication to the Irish and Scottish Gaelic-speaking communities in New England and the Canadian Maritimes was evident not only in his involvement in regional lan- guage and cultural organizations, but also in the incredible effort he made to document local speakers’ oral traditions, and in the lasting connections he forged with tradition bearers and other members of the language-speaking communities. He was widely beloved for his kindness, his humility, his conviviality, and his genuine interest in people’s traditional culture, which he practised alongside them. Al- though Ken’s untimely passing in April 2012 weighs heavily upon his many friends and colleagues, both within and beyond academia, his legacy lives on. In the spirit of his work as a folklore collector, this chapter traces his academic journey through the recollections of those whose lives he touched along the way. North American Gaels : Speech, Story, and Song in the Diaspora, edited by Natasha Sumner, and Aidan Doyle, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/harvard-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6348484. Created from harvard-ebooks on 2021-09-16 00:48:01. Copyright © 2020. McGill-Queen's University Press. All rights reserved.