LEONARD SKINNER
"Arguably the most
influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture." -
The New York Times
January 11, 1933 to
September 20, 2010
COD:
Alzheimer's Disease
BURIAL:
Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida
As the lore
goes, Leonard Skinner was the gym teacher at Robert E.
Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, which was also
the school attended by the future members of Lynyrd
Skynyrd. Skinner, a former military man and wearer
of a crew cut at the time, apparently had given
the guys a hard time for the length of their hair,
including sending Gary Rossington to the principal's
office on one occasion. Skinner would later state
that although he didn't care for long hair on men, he
was simply enforcing the rules. The band took the
teacher's name and gave it a different spelling to
accentuate a Southern drawl pronunciation. Skinner
originally was not overjoyed by the honor, but later
came to embrace it as the band's popularity increased.
He even went so far as to allow the use of his Real
Estate business sign on an album cover and even once
introduced the band at a Jacksonville concert.
Leonard Skinner's gravesite has, until now, been
something of a mystery to the general public.
Riverside Memorial Park does not give out any Skynyrd
grave locations, although by now, most of the locations
for the band members are well-known to fans. The
Death 2ur is proud to be the first to honor Mr. Skinner
by sharing photos of his final resting place.
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