Ken Ritz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ken Ritz, a fictional character of the Left Behind series, is a private pilot. Once a commercial airline pilot, Ritz was sacked because he was too much of a stickler for safety. He went into charter business, and by the time of the Rapture, he owned a small fleet of aircraft based at Chicago-area airports.
The second day after the Rapture, Ritz provides Buck Williams with a flight as close to New York City as possible. The conversation they share is instrumental in the start of Ritz's journey to salvation, although the novels do not indicate any further services by Ritz to Buck until some 18 months into the Tribulation. Then, Ritz flies Buck to Israel where he locates and rescues Tsion Ben-Judah, and Ritz flies them safely back to America.
Ritz is badly injured in the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake, when an airplane wing hits the back of his head. However, given the urgency of the circumstances, he flies Buck to Minneapolis to rescue Chloe Steele Williams before she is taken by Global Community operatives to be used as a bargaining chip. He manages to fly Buck and Chloe back to Chicago, and is shortly afterward employed to take Buck to Denver to pluck Hattie Durham from the GC. On arrival at the safe house to begin the flight to Denver, he shows that he has become a believer.
In Apollyon, Ritz is killed by a GC bullet to the head while racing with Ben-Judah, Chloe, and Buck to board a waiting plane at Jerusalem Airport to return to the United States. The catalyst for the shooting is the detected theft of GC Chopper One to pluck the threesome from the roof of Israeli botanist and statesman Chaim Rosenzweig's house.
|
Major Characters in Left Behind Series Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
|
|
| Original Tribulation Force Members: Rayford Steele | Cameron "Buck" Williams | Chloe Steele | Bruce Barnes |
|
| Other Tribulation Force Members: Tsion Ben-Judah | Chaim Rosenzweig | Albie | Mac McCullum | Abdullah Smith | David Hassid | Chang Wong | Ming Toy | Ree Woo | Ken Ritz | Lionel Whalum | George Sebastian | Priscilla Sebastian | Amanda White | T. M. Delanty | Lukas Miklos | Floyd Charles | Hattie Durham | Steve Plank | Razor | Otto Weser | Naomi Tiberias | Eleazar Tiberias | Gustaf Zuckermandel, Jr. | Hannah Palemoon | Leah Rose | Annie Christopher | Marcel Papadopoulos | Georgiana Stavros |
|
| The Global Community: Nicolae Carpathia | Leon Fortunato | Viv Ivins | Suhail Akbar | Walter Moon | Peter Mathews | Marilena Carpathia | Reiche Planchette | Aurelio Sequoia Figueroa | Jim Hickman | Ramon Santiago | Clancy Tiber | Guy Blod |
|
| Others: Joshua Todd-Cothran | Jonathan Stonagal | Bo Hanson | Samuel Hanson | Anika Janssen | Bernadette Rice | Gerald Fitzhugh |
|
