Krista Maeots

  Research Information:

Excerpt of An Article Published on the WWW:

Krista was Jim Laxer's first wife. She and I were school friends in Calgary in the early sixties, and I joined the Waffle when I came to Toronto in 1971 because of her. She was personally an immensely inspirational woman, as anyone who knew her will attest, and I have no doubt that in backroom discussions, her voice had great weight. However, Jim was the public leader of the Waffle and Mel a strong public lieutenant from early on, from the time that the Lewis circle began to back off. Within the Waffle, there was some resistance to Jim's leadership, particularly in the West Metro section, where Jackie Larkin among others (notably Steve Penner and Joe Flexer) became powerful dissenting voices indeed. Mel and Kelly Crichton (husband and wife) were also members of the West Metro section, and the strongest voices raised against the dissent of the group popularly known as the "West Metro Crazies." I drifted towards the WMCs. During that time, some personal relationships were broken. Krista died in 1978. Her death was devastating to many people, with some of whom she had broken off all contact at the time the Waffle split, in 1972, shortly after the provincial party ordered us to disband. There are some people, I think, who have never quite got over her death, whichever side of the split they were on. I am one of them. Some of the people you have named above were or still are among the finest, smartest, most generous people I have ever met, but I would single out three, Krista, Mel, and Jackie, as great souls, so different from one another, and yet so moving to me now in memory. Jackie always reminded me of Janis Joplin, eg, although she was much more tough-minded, obviously. And Mel is both mind and mensch. But Krista -- that needs a book, or a poem, and none of us has written it yet. I must stop now or I'll cry.

  Events in his/her life:

Krista married James Robert Laxer, son of Doctor Robert Mendel Laxer and Edna May Olec Quentin, on 14 Aug 1969 in Calgary, Alberta. (James Robert Laxer was born on 22 Dec 1941 in Montreal, Quebec.)