How Maps Change Things

Husband of one, father of four, friend and role model to many, Ward L. Kaiser was a proud bridge builder, thoughtful writer and publisher, sought after guest preacher, and Europhile who loved languages, music, art, books, history, philosophy, intercultural exchange, and meaningful conversation. A lifelong learner who embraced whatever opportunities life sent his way, he was also a prankster and punster, a Citroen and Rover enthusiast, and a lively, nurturing paterfamilias. 

Kaiser is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 75 years, Lorraine (Macke); their four children, Sue (Doug Welwood) of Toronto, Gary (Linda) of San Francisco, Chris (Karen) of Dublin, Ohio, and Jackie (Doug Webber) of Toronto; seven cherished grandchildren (Andrew, Meryl, Kimberly, Kevin, Geneva, Anderson and Ella); and a devoted extended family. 

Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Ward Kaiser was a graduate of Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University) in Ontario and Union Theological Seminary in New York, and undertook additional studies at Emmanuel College (University of Toronto), Rutgers University, and Columbia University. During the Reconstruction in France following World War II, he helped heal the wounds of war as a team worker and regional director with La Cimade, a French refugee organization with roots in the Resistance movement. After being ordained in the Evangelical United Brethren Church—now United Methodist and United Church of Canada—he served congregations in Pleasantdale, Saskatchewan as well as Kitchener, Milverton, and Stratford, Ontario. In 1957, he began a long tenure with Friendship Press, the publishing arm of the National Council of Churches in New York, becoming its executive director and publisher. 

Kaiser’s commitment to fairness and justice led him to join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington, meet with civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, and spur a Fair Housing initiative in Northern New Jersey that made him unpopular in some quarters. His activism for world peace briefly brought him under surveillance by the F.B.I..   

Kaiser embraced any and every opportunity to travel, and spent time in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Cuba, Fiji, Japan, Australia and the Middle East as well as in many countries in Europe, the latter being the destination of choice for trips with Lorraine and their beloved fellow globetrotters, Flo and Bill Amy. It is therefore perhaps fitting that during Kaiser’s time at Friendship Press he introduced the Peters Projection World Map to North America. He went on to become a passionate champion of the map’s equitable vision of the world, giving lectures at institutions including New York University, Princeton and the Smithsonian; leading workshops for The New School as well as for service clubs, teachers’ associations and faith groups; and writing several books on cartography, including most recently How Maps Change Things: A Conversation about the Maps We Choose and the World We Want (2013). 

As a devotee of the ecumenical movement, Kaiser worked with the Canadian, US and World Councils of Churches; was a member of the US Catholic Mission Council; and served as a consultant in education to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. While on the staff of the National Council of Churches, a Protestant and Orthodox body serving both Canadian and U.S. churches, the program for which he was responsible received official endorsement from the Roman Catholic Church: an ecumenical first. In Scouting, Kaiser served on the National Board and as Chief of Protestant Chaplains at National and World Jamborees. 

Kaiser leaves behind a life well-lived, yet ever incomplete—a life that calls us to carry the light he shared. Donations in his memory may be made to a charity of your choosing, or to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres; The Carter Center (Peace and Democracy Programs); or the Southern Poverty Law Center. Details of a celebration of life to follow. 

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” 

― Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History 

It's about much more than those maps that tell us how to get from Point A to Point B. It's about politics and faith and the values we hold. It's about human relations, social justice, peace, budgets, and environmental concerns, because the maps we create and use influence (sometimes subtly, sometimes directly) all of these things. It's about becoming aware of how we shape and use maps, and how they in turn shape us. Ultimately, it's about becoming aware of the "meaning" behind the maps we use so we can reflect on and begin to create the kind of world we want.