B.C. Trophy Husband Gets $157,000

It’s been said that the essence of news is when “man bites dog” – or, in other words, when the unusual, unexpected or just plain weird happens. And it’s arguable that all three make an appearance in the tale of 66-year old self-declared trophy husband Gordon Walker.

Gordon Walker: Trophy Husband

From 1997 to 2011, Walker, a native of British Columbia, was a close companion of widowed 86-year old Valerie Fortune Brown — whose middle-name was rather prescient, because in1994 she inherited an estate worth $8 million.  

Together, they wined, dined, traveled, and went shopping for $120 pens. Good clean fun. Or, at least, until 2011.

That’s when the relationship went awry. Brown possibly uttered some multi-millionaire’s version of the “it’s not you it’s me” speech, and planned to lead the rest of her life 100% certified Walker-free.

Except that Walker had other plans. 

In his view, he wasn’t merely a friend or companion. He was a self-described “trophy-husband,” who became an “economically dependent kept man.” He also claimed to have been physically intimate with Brown, which if true, would certainly qualify him at the very least as a friend with benefits.

Alas, as with so many tales of friendship, love and $120 pens, this one ended up in the courts. Brown wanted his financial propers. And Walker wanted Brown to stop sending her letters threatening to make their allegedly lurid sex life public in a memoir (don’t say it…just…don’t) if she didn’t pay up.

Ultimately, the judge decided that they were both off their rockers. Walker was awarded $157,000 in a one-time support payout, which was far less than he had wanted, and far, far less than Brown could afford to pay. But it was nevertheless an acknowledgement that the relationship was more than mere friendship. 

Furthermore, despite “winning” (at least theoretically), Walker didn’t get a penny in court costs, because the judge was woefully unimpressed by his above-noted threatening letters — though it can be assumed that he was able to keep the $120 pen that was probably used to write them.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/02/12/bc-trophy-husband-support.html

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