Kirby’s Way: How Kirby and Caroline Risk Built their Company on Kitchen-Table Values

by Angie Klink

The late J. Kirby Risk II called himself "a small-town businessman from the banks of the Wabash." He was much more. The fastidious, dapper man from Lafayette, Indiana, exuded philanthropy and free enterprise. Like a sheepdog, he tended the flock, rounded up strays, darted to key places to close up stragglers, and nudged everyone toward a common goal. Sometimes his stubborn persistence caused clashes. His demanding behavior was for good, no matter what others thought. That was Kirby's way. Kirby's integrity was the basis for his two occupations. His first career was compassion, and his second career was the building of the battery company he cofounded in 1926 with $500 borrowed from his father. Today, Kirby Risk Corporation is a multimillion-dollar electrical products and services industry headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, and led by Kirby's son, Jim. Kirby's Way captures the essence of this imitable gentleman, who with his wife of fifty-five years, Caroline, raised four children, gave time, money, and meals to strangers, refugees, Purdue University students, and their beloved community, while building from their kitchen table a successful Midwest corporation. He believed in "sacrificial service." Kirby noticed people. He recognized their importance. In turn, they loved him and wanted to help him. He dwelled on his favorite song, "Mankind is My Business." Relationships shaped his success. Kirby was quiet about his deeds. He lived the Bible passage, Matthew 6:3―"But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly―do not tell your left hand what your right hand is doing." Kirby Risk may not have wanted this book. Yet he would have esteemed it as a parable, a spiritual truth that compels readers to discover certainties for themselves. From heaven, he tends the flock and rounds up strays, so more people might live Kirby's Way.

308 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Angie Klink writes from the sleeping porch turned office of her circa 1900 home in Lafayette, Indiana. As she looks out onto the heart of the city’s downtown along the Wabash River with the Tippecanoe County Courthouse dome a beacon on the horizon, she writes about lives worth emulating. Her most recent book is "The Deans' Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality" published by Purdue University Press, March 2014. She also authored "Kirby’s Way, How Kirby and Caroline Risk Built their Company on Kitchen-Table Values," published by Purdue University Press, July 2012,
Angie is honored to bring to life two pioneering Purdue educators who improved the lives of American women in her book "Divided Paths, Common Ground." She authored the popular children’s books "Purdue Pete Finds His Hammer" and "I Found U." Angie is published in "Republican’s Soul," "The Gift of Christmas," "Chicken Soup for the Sisters Soul 2" and "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens."
Angie writes advertising copy, essays and profiles. She has won 52 American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards and an honorable mention in the 2007 Erma Bombeck Essay Contest. She has a BA from the Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University.

Reviews

[Amy Paget · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can be right smack up against history every day without knowing it. Especially the history of your own community. Kirby’s Way (IND CIRC 923.873 R595K 2012 by author Angie Klink tells the personal, social, and business history of Kirby and Caroline Risk and the company they built in Lafayette Indiana, Kirby Risk Electrical Supply. From a larger perspective, it’s the story of early 20th century entrepreneurship, and the move from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing one. Klink deftly weaves the social and political history of the times in with this compelling story. We see William Jennings Bryan influence Risk’s personal and political life and learn that Caroline Robinson from Boswell was one of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair queen contestants! Her elevation to the ‘world stage’ propelled Kirby to propose. Through their church, the Risks were involved in the resettling of Cuban refugees in 1950s Lafayette. Just shy of 300 highly readable pages with photos and correspondence excerpts, Kirby’s Way covers the period from the 1890s to the 1980s. Kirby and Caroline Risk had a remarkable marriage as this book attests. Recommended reading for entrepreneurs, social historians, and good neighbors. Kirby’s Way would be an excellent resource for high school business and social studies courses.

[Lorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a big change from my normal fiction and suspense books, but it was interesting. I don't think I would have read it if I were not connected (in a distant way)to some of the people and places in the book.

[Noah Ramsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a book a teenager would particularly read. It explained the story behind the company my dad works for, so I thought I would give it a shot. The book was a very slow read, however I learned information about my dad's company that I did not know before.