8 November 1903--birth of Leon Howard.
Leon Howard is being forgotten. Hayford and Leyda pushed him to write up a narrative biography from Leyda's in-progress LOG. I have described the folly of this notion as the "Silver Platter" theory of biography in MELVILLE BIOGRAPHY: AN INSIDE NARRATIVE. Actually, a couple of would-be biographers asked me to share my own bigger in-progress LOG with them, thinking that would be all they needed. Leon's biography is not of value, but his life as a teacher was of the highest value, surely some students survive to say. As recent as the 1970s, after he retired to Albuquerque, Leon would come back to Los Angeles to see his friends in several colleges and universities. Leo Lemay and I had suitable houses for his purposes, so he would give each of us slightly overlapping guest lists so we could assemble his dearest dozens of friends. So many Leon Howard stories! How many will be lost forever?
Leon Howard is being forgotten. Hayford and Leyda pushed him to write up a narrative biography from Leyda's in-progress LOG. I have described the folly of this notion as the "Silver Platter" theory of biography in MELVILLE BIOGRAPHY: AN INSIDE NARRATIVE. Actually, a couple of would-be biographers asked me to share my own bigger in-progress LOG with them, thinking that would be all they needed. Leon's biography is not of value, but his life as a teacher was of the highest value, surely some students survive to say. As recent as the 1970s, after he retired to Albuquerque, Leon would come back to Los Angeles to see his friends in several colleges and universities. Leo Lemay and I had suitable houses for his purposes, so he would give each of us slightly overlapping guest lists so we could assemble his dearest dozens of friends. So many Leon Howard stories! How many will be lost forever?
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