Keith Cameron

Keith Cameron was a Meccano enthusiast from the days when he grew up in England. His modelbuilding skills were known in the 1930's, when he won several prizes in competitions organised by Meccano Limited.
He studied to be a doctor, and, being a devout Christian, he embarked on missionary work.
This took him to (pre-Communist) China, where he ran a practice.
It was there that he met his wife-to-be, Mura.
Although there was a strict code of non-fraternisation between the men and women (and, if I recall correctly, a code of silence as well), they fell in love, and were married.
Keith left his Meccano set behind in England, but his interest was reawakened when he came across and bought a No. 7 Set in a market in a remote part of Tibet.

When China came under Communist rule, he and Mura were forced to leave, and set sail on a junk down the Yangtze River. Unfortunately, it ran aground.
Although no personal effects were lost, this was considered extremely bad luck, so it took them three months before they could convince another local owner of a junk to take them to the mouth of the river, and from there they were able to take a steamer to the U. S.

Keith and Mura settled in Ary, Kentucky, a remote location up in the hills - so remote, that you had to ask your way to it from another community at the bottom of a hill because apparently there were no signposts to show where it was. He continued to practice medicine there, treating the coal miners and their families, until he retired to Spring Hill in Florida. Obviously, one of the main complaints that he treated was Black Lung Disease. Despite being so isolated from the rest of the Meccano world, Keith continued to build elegant and ingenious models, which he would then photograph and write up in detail. These he sent to "Meccano Magazine," to G. M. Morris to publish as ModelPlans, and, in later years, to the "Midlands Meccano Guild Gazette," to "Constructor Quarterly," and to "The Canadian Meccanoman's Newsletter."

Many Meccanomen visited him in Florida, and he and Mura were gracious hosts - I had the pleasure of going there at least three times. Sadly, he never went to any Meccano gatherings in Britain, despite being asked to do so, but he did come to two consecutive Hobby Shows in the 1980's in Toronto. He did not return, however, because he found the twelve-lane highways a bit too overpowering. He did, however, return one more time to Canada, when we organised a convention in Owen Sound, Ontario, in honour of his eightieth birthday. Three Meccanomen came from England for that event - Robin Johnson, Pat Briggs and Jack Partridge.

Keith was a wonderful man, and I know I am not alone in missing him still, several years after he passed away.