Lynn Kippax, Jr. ”Kip”, a major influence in film and media for the State of Maine, died in his home on March 4th in York, Maine. He was 71.
His brother, John Kippax, confirmed the cause of death was complications of COPD. Kip was raised in Swarthmore, Pa. and graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Film and Television.
Kip’s career in the arts spanned a half century. He was the former Chairman of the State of Maine Media and Film Commission and a leading influence in bringing major film projects to the state. Kip helped found the Maine Film Commission in 1988 and made his living in various aspects of film and media production while living in Maine. He worked as a writer for TV and radio productions, as a media consultant, producer and a location manager for films and TV shows, using locations principally in New England. Kip was the Maine AP wire correspondent during the Bush presidencies.
In 2005, he worked on the other side of the cameras and microphones by becoming press secretary for Maine Governor, John Balducci. In 2007 he accepted another challenge; working for the Boston based Rendon Group, teaching broadcast techniques to U.S. Army soldiers in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Asked what it was like teaching in a war zone Kip said: “For a while now, I have believed in the importance of teaching. It’s a way of giving back. Early in my career, I taught at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland. I’ve had the chance to lecture quite a bit, in both the U.S. and in the UK. Most of the students I’ve taught don’t tote guns: They do here. Here in Baghdad, young soldiers make weekly TV and radio broadcasts. Good writing, good truthful storytelling is important no matter where you are.”
His name appears in the credits of 15 feature films- including HBO’s ”Empire Falls” from Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, which was filmed in Maine, starring Ed Harris, Helen Hunt and Paul Newman. Other film credits include Steven King’s “The Stand” and James Michener’s “America”. He’s produced TV programs in the U.S., South America, Europe and the Middle East. Sidney Walters of CBS has written of him: “His creative sensitivity…was in no small measure responsible for my nomination for a directorial award at the Emmy Awards Dinner.”
His still photography has appeared in United Press International, The New York Times, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Down East Magazine and many others. He was the recipient of the Broderson Awards- 1st Place Photography.
As a journalist, Kip filed hundreds of stories for numerous national print and broadcast outlets, including CNN, NPR, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, among many others. He was an Associated Press wire correspondent for the State of Maine. Kip knew the Bush family from his many years living in Kennebunkport (where he also served as a volunteer fireman) and covered, as a White House Press correspondent, the goings-on at the ‘Summer White House’ at Walker’s Point, Kennebunkport, during President George H.W. Bush’s (#41) and President George W. Bush’s (#43) presidencies. In Tom Bradbury’s recently published book, ‘Our President’, Kip said “when Bush returned to Maine, the White House press followed: Bush was the story, and they were here to cover that story. If nothing else came from those twelve years of stories, Americans learned how to spell Kennebunkport.”
Kip donated 12 boxes of materials covering his years as a journalist and the White House press pool to the Brick Store Museum, in Kennebunk, Maine. ‘The Kippax Collection’ includes news releases, press conference transcripts and press reports from the Bush presidencies. At the time, Kip was president of the Maine Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
President George H. W. Bush once referred to Kip during his AP correspondent years as being “one of the honorable ones.”
From 2014 to 2018, Kip was Director of Development and Chief Storyteller, for the Maine Concussion Management Institute (MCMI), associated with Colby College. He developed all of their marketing material and was the public interface for the media community.
The groundbreaking data- which Kip called “startling”- is being used by Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston and other institutions to study the effects of sports related concussions.
An avid drummer, ignoring his parent’s early requests to try a quieter instrument, Kip performed in a wide range of “gigs” from the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager, to the All Girls Jazz Band in Maine, when they couldn’t find a female drummer.
He is survived by his 97 year old mother Margaret (“Peggy”) G. Kippax, in Newtown Square, Pa., his brother John and family in Larchmont, NY, and his brother Jeffrey in Philadelphia, Pa.
Services are tentatively planned for later this spring in Swarthmore and late September/October in Kennebunkport, when the national Corona virus travel restrictions are lifted.
His infectious humor, enrapturing storytelling, impromptu impersonations, caring service to others, love of family and friends, and bright light will be cherished by all those who knew Kip.
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