Improbable as it may seem, David Kennedy co-founded one of the most dynamic, boundary-breaking advertising agencies in America, an agency that emits judo-tough smarts from Portland to Amsterdam to Shanghai…

Above: David Kennedy (left) and Dan Wieden.

There's an interesting profile of W+K founder David Kennedy just published in the Oregonian.

He's the man in black. Wearing baggy black jeans, black T-shirt, black
hoodie and black sneakers that could use a good wash, David Kennedy
ambles, even shuffles, before extending his hand to shake. He's still
as an owl, with a scraggly silver beard and grassy gray hair.

Improbable
as it might seem, Kennedy co-founded one of the most dynamic,
boundary-breaking advertising agencies in America, an agency that emits
judo-tough smarts from Portland to Amsterdam to Shanghai...

Kennedy is the guy who supposedly left the business in 1995. But he
still wanders into the office a couple days a week to hang out with the
kids and work on the American Indian College Fund account, one of W+K's pro bono accounts and the most meaningful one to Kennedy…

The lack of daily responsibility has given Kennedy's week a circadian
rhythm. One minute he's advising on the Native American account, the
next he's sketching an idea for a sculpture. And after that, he's
goofing around with Jeff Selis, an agency creative who glides into
Kennedy, parked at a work table, while riding a skateboard.

"Mild. As mild as it comes." 

I met Dave a couple of years ago when he came over to the UK with Dan to give a talk at D&AD. He's a quiet kind of guy, but he had some great stories to tell. 

Read the full article here.