Talk about your weepers. Anyone who can keep a dry eye while watching “Keeper of the Kohn” is either brain dead or plain dead.
“Keeper,” an hour-long documentary by David Gaynes which airs at 8 tonight on KRMA-Channel 6, is the story of Peter Kohn, field manager for the Middlebury (Vt.) College lacrosse team.
Is it a real job or a pity handout to an older man who is developmentally disabled, perhaps even autistic? “Keeper,” named best documentary at the 2005 Vail International Film Festival, never tells us but, in the long run, it doesn’t matter. It’s really a story of love, understanding and humanity.
The players, 50 years younger than Kohn, adopt him as one of their own. In return, Kohn takes care of his boys, fetching water, shagging errant balls, giving the team lockerroom pep talks that always end with one of the players shouting, “What time is it, Pete?” To which he responds, “Time to beat (the opposition)!” The players roar. “It’s a beautiful thing,” he says of their relationship.
“Keeper” is also about his friendship with Bettie, a widow dying of cancer with whom he shares a special bond and about how he deals with her impending death.
Kohn is not portrayed as an oddity; he’s only human. He lives alone and shows flashes of temper when he snaps at the administrator of his trust fund, “I’m a fully independent person!”
His quirks – taking thousands of photos with disposable cameras and his fixation on counting and recording in notebooks freight cars during his train rides – are symptoms of his disability. His understanding and tenderness in dealing with Bettie’s decline and her ultimate death are transcendent. “When you love somebody you don’t walk away when they need you,” he says when Bettie becomes bedridden.
The title, by the way, comes from the team’s tradition of assigning an incoming freshman to keep watch over Kohn, who almost always is outfitted in a blue Middlebury ballcap with a feather sticking out of it. “Respect for Peter is absolutely essential,” says the coach.
After watching “Keeper of the Kohn,” it’s impossible to have anything else.
Around the dial
It’s all about fathers: Political commentator and host of TV’s “Meet the Press” Tim Russert talks about his and other’s dads on “Colorado’s Morning News” (8:30 a.m. Wednesday, KOA 850-AM). He recently authored “Wisdom of Our Fathers.” … More fun with Dad: Steve Cassiday, afternoon jock at KOSI 101.1-FM, runs the fun of “the world’s largest game of musical chairs,” pitting 50 fathers, at Six Flags Elitch Gardens on Sunday. … Even more stuff for Dad: “Great Cars” takes a look at Italy’s darling, the legendary Alfa Romeo (9 p.m. Tuesday, KBDI-Channel 12). … Quotable: “Give it your heart!” Peter Kohn.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
