Kilde, Clarence.

While stationed in Alaska as an army chaplain in 1943-1945, Clarence Kilde became fascinated with Sydney Laurence's paintings and the life of the man who had produced them. He helped organize a memorial showing of Laurence's work at the U.S.O. Club in Anchorage, Alaska, at the end of January 1945. Over the course of two months preceding the show and another month thereafter, he interviewed a number of people in Anchorage who had known the artist personally. Kilde left Alaska a short time later, but continued in active research for several more years, corresponding and reading widely in an effort to track down additional information.