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LEROY SOUTHERS One of the greatest privileges and pleasures in my life was knowing Leroy. There is at least one of you here who knew Leroy before I did, but our friendship goes back to about 1966. It turns out that one of the nicest things that my ex-wife did for me was to introduce me to her students at USC. Bea was a German grad student and, since she had double-majored in cello, all the music majors, it seemed, chose her class in German grammar, since they had to take someone. There was one class that was a fairly amazing group, and (if I remember correctly), it included not only Leroy and Ralph Grierson, but I think it may have also had Michael Tilson Thomas, and Rick Lesemann. Although I was only a physics major, the musicians seemed to tolerate me and Leroy and Ralph were among my best friends. I was particularly taken by Leroy, who clearly deeply loved producing music. It wasn't simply his profession, it was also his passion. Of course, he couldn't compose and blow his oboe all the time. When he wasn't producing music, he still was always creating something. At one time it was some 300 mazes, that were the cleverest and most elaborate and original that I've ever seen. In more recent years he produced about forty fictitious pseudoscientific journal issues. They described in great and sometimes deliciously salacious detail the habits of monsters, and prehistoric beasts, and aliens, and yet to be discovered ancient races of man. Undiscovered worlds were detailed, so that when they are discovered there won't be any significant surprises. Leroy loved the incongruous and bizarre, and if it didn't yet exist, he created it…to the continued delight of his friends who with great seriousness and solemnity would be handed the latest journal issue by a wickedly grinning Leroy. Leroy also did serious work on some of the limitless subjects that interested him; he has left unfinished serious biographies. The universe seems to work in very strange ways. Ralph and Caroline Grierson were recently in this area for their daughter's wedding. When they came to visit Leroy they called me, since Griersons and I had tentative plans to get together in New York. When I talked to Leroy, he sounded tired, and was sick, but I found myself asking about coming up the next weekend…despite what would possibly be a wearing experience. After talking to Jackie, he called and said "come". I did and we had a wonderful time, and reminisced about early days and adventures, and people, and told bad jokes, and regretted time apart. I remembered many of his kindnesses to me, some of which would be embarrassing to me to describe publicly. But he was thoughtful and kind and moral in the best sense of believing that you should act not to hurt people. Sometimes it isn't possible to do that, but he believed in it as a goal and a rule of goodness in the universe. I suppose if someone were to look for a failing in Leroy, they would be that creation was an end in itself and not a means to enrich himself. Just as Leroy's friends were delighted by his creations, so we knew that would others be. Leroy didn't mind if someone wanted to take his things and try to sell them, but he couldn't be bothered with it, because as he told me "He could only be happy when he was creating something." So, piles of Leroyian artifacts have disappeared into closets and basements and attics and under beds. We hope that many of them can still be found, and at least be catalogued. He was one of the most prolific people I have ever known, and his chroniclers will certainly discover that. Leroy's needs were simple: Creating, and having someone to love and take care of him while he created. Demanding more of him would be like demanding that a unicorn become an ox and pull a dray. Some people wanted to put that harness on him, and of course, it would have killed the unique spirit in him which was what all of us loved. It is necessary for me to say a word about Jackie. I saw a photo that her mother shot of Jackie and Leroy when they were 16 years old: Innocents in love. When I was here that last weekend, I watched the two of them together. Their love was obvious. But it was not the love of two 60-odd year olds. To each other they were still and would perpetually remain the teenagers in that picture, and it touched me deeply. I was wonderfully happy for them. When I left I was worried about Leroy and told him to take care of himself, because "I wanted to have him around for a while." Apparently, his habits took a turn for the better after his doctor's visit, but years of smoking added to the damage done by childhood rheumatic fever made it too late, and he was gone four days after I left. I'm grateful that we had that short but wonderful time, and I will be one of you who will miss him for the rest of my life. November 13, 2003 |
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