George J. Leonard
Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities (tenured)
Education:
BA Columbia 1967 MA Columbia 1968 Ph.D. with Distinction Columbia 1972.
Languages learned
Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Russian, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish
Main critical resources about Leonard's work:
Philip W. Jackson in John Dewey and the Lessons of Art, (Yale University
Press: 1998) spends fifteen pages on "George Leonard's Argument" using
Leonard's theories as exemplars of "spiritual" explanations of Art.
( See, "Spirituality of Art-Centered Experiences" 69-78, 86-89, 102)
To be posted here in the future.
Art critic David Carrier's interview
originally done for Bomb magazine, is posted on this site. Carrier's 2003 revision
of his popular textbook, Writing About Visual Art, has two evaluations of Leonard's
work. In his 2003 book, Emerson, the Chair of Harvard English, Lawrence
Buell, based his concept of American Zen's debt to Emerson on Leonard's work,
and Leonard is cited.
Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World. Various editions.
Service as a Professor:
For the College of Humanities:
Currently: Editor in Chief, The San Francisco Humanities Press and Editor in chief, The San Francisco Humanities Review
Editor, MAGAZINE, the faculty literary magazine of the College of Humanities, 1986-93
Editor in Chief, MAGAZINE, 1994 to 2001 (selecting own editorial board for 2 year terms until 1998, then sole editor afterward) Two issues per year, 225 pages each.
Chair, College of Humanities Leave with Pay Committee, 3 times. Chair, College of Humanities Merit Pay, twice.
For the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities:
Chair, Hiring, Retention, Tenure, Promotion Committee 1990-91, 1998-99, 2000-2001
Chair, Leave With Pay, three times.
Excerpted from Who's Who in the World, 1995 (for subsequent activity see
below)
Leonard, George Jay, author, born Brooklyn,1946; married to Simei Du, 1987;
One child, Andrew Charles. Consultant Keats -Shelley Memorial House, Rome, 1977-
82; Participant, panelist Institute of American Studies, Beijing, People's Republic
of China, 1988; appeared on various radio and television programs, 1976- present
Books include: From the Island (Mc Graw Hill First Novel Series Award), 1967
Beyond Control, 1975, The Ice Cathedral, 1984, Into the Light of Things: The
Art of the Commonplace from Wordsworth to John Cage, 1994; conception and choreography
Sha Na Na rock and roll act, 1969; appeared in film Woodstock, 1969 memorial;
National Book Critic's Circle, 1991-; contributor book reviews and articles
to LA Times Sunday Book Review, 1982-. Activist for bioethics 1971- 82, activist
for ethnic brotherhood, 1983-; Member Advisory Board United States Pacific council,
Bel Air California, 1983-89; Humanities Consultant to David Hyun, Korean American
Coalition and Japanese Village Plaza, Los Angeles 1984-85. Fellow Huntington
Library, San Marino, California, 1974-75. Memberships include MLA, American
Society for the Advancement of Aesthetics, Wordsworth Circle, National Association
Asian American Studies, Population Institute, Common Cause.
Academic Background:
1972-3 Assistant Professor of English, Yale.
1973-4 Visiting Assistant Professor of English, U.C. Irvine
1975-76 Fellow in Residence, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
1977-80 The Writer-in-Residence, Scripps College, Claremont Colleges
1986- present, Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities, San Francisco State
University.
Selected Books, Screenplays, Essays and Entertainment:
2004-5
Screenplay: EXTINCTION, purchased by Ken Schur, producer who developed Leonard's The Ice Cathedral for Ron Howard/Imagine Entertainment/ Universal Pictures, Hollywood. Writing began at the Essex House on Central Park South in January 2005.
2003
Editor in Chief, The San Francisco State Humanities Press
Editor in Chief, the San Francisco Humanities Review
Member, Council of Editors of Learned Journals (national organization)
Cited, Lawrence Buell's book on Emerson (see above)
Leonard's philosophy evaluated in David Carrier's book, Writing About Visual Art (see above.)
Won SFSU competition for sabbatical leave to finish new book, 2004.
2002
September, at work on new manuscript, Extinction (see 2004-5 for the sale.)
Discovered that Philip W. Jackson in John Dewey and the Lessons of Art,
(Yale University Press: 1998) uses "George Leonard's Argument" as
exemplar of "Spirituality of Art-Centered Experiences" (69-78, 86-89,
102) Book appeared in 1998 but was just brought to my attention. I'll post selections
on this website soon.
Thanked in the Acknowledgement by Jay Martin, Journey to Heavenly Mountain,
2002.
Thanked in the Acknowledgement by Jack Miles, Christ: A Crisis in the Life
of God, New York: Knopf, 2002. (In October, Miles, already a Pulitzer Prize
winner, won the MacArthur "Genius" Award, a half million dollar grant
of seed money to free him for his next project.)
Sole Anonymous Referee, U. of Chicago Press on a work of Chinese aesthetics
written in French.
2001
The National Geographic Magazine, for its article on Silicon Valley,
visited the teahouse behind Dr. Leonard's home for a tea ceremony and a discussion
of Confucian values. December issue.
$50,000 NEH "seed grant" to team including Leonard to develop
the federally funded California On-Line Encyclopedia.
Article, "David Antin, Improvisation, Asia" appeared in David
Antin from Contemporary Fiction Studies.
The San Francisco Art Institute made Leonard's speech: "Cage, Suzuki and
the making of American Zen." its first live webcast.
2000
The American Library Association selected The Asian Pacific American Heritage:
A Companion to Literature and Arts as "One of the Outstanding Academic
Books of the Year." (See below.)
Director Ron Howard exercised his option to complete the purchase of The
Ice Cathedral for Imagine Entertainment in conjunction with Universal Pictures,
Hollywood.
1999
Editor in Chief, and main contributor, The Asian Pacific American Heritage:
A Companion to Literature and Arts (NY: Routledge, 1999) 694 page encyclopedia,
author of over half the pages, 15 essays under own name, 8 "as told to."
Editor in Chief, and contributor, The Italian American Heritage: a Companion
to Literature and Arts, (NY: Routledge, 1999), 800 page encyclopedia.
1997
Screenplay: The Ice Cathedral, purchased by director Ron Howard, Imagine
Entertainment in conjunction with Universal Pictures, Hollywood.
Screenplay: Beyond Control, purchased by Ken Schur, Schur Productions,
New York and Greenwich, Connecticut.
1994
Into the Light of Things (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), interdisciplinary
aesthetic theory. Hardcover and paperback, simultaneous editions in England
and Australia.
Selected by American Library Association as "One of the Outstanding Academic
Books of the Year"
1992
"John le Carre" in British Writers, Supplement II (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons) Fifteen thousand word book article. Written with le Carre's
help and letters.
1991
"The Man Without a World," feature film, director, Eleanor Antin.
Played feature role.
1990
"Claude Simon" in European Writers: the Twentieth Century (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons) Eighteen thousand word book article, original translations
of Simon from the French.
1989
"Bamboo and Oak" performance piece with John Cage
1988
Visiting Professor, Beijing Advanced Teacher's College. In 8 stays between 1988
and 2001 Leonard logged over a year in Beijing.
1984
The Ice Cathedral (New York: Simon and Schuster) Novel.
Paperback rights sold to Pinnacle.
Dual Main selection, Preferred Choice Book Club.
Chinese translation ("Bing Lengde Jiao Tang") Jilin Press, China,1989.
1975
Beyond Control (New York: Macmillan) Novel.
Paperback by Pocket Books
Spanish translation ("Mas Alla de Todo Control") Mexico City: Logos
Consorcio, 1978.
1971
The Evil Weed (35mm feature film) Wrote and directed. 35mm distribution: Altura
Films, Intl. New York. 16mm distribution: Crowell Collier Macmillan, New York.
1969
Sha Na Na (conception and choreography)
Appeared at Woodstock Festival, Fillmores East and West, Warner Bros. film Woodstock.
(Oscar, Best Documentary)
1967
From the Island (McGraw-Hill First Novel Award.) Chosen by William Goyen.
George Leonard--Finding his balance in life
[excerpted from a San Francisco State University Office of Public Affairs publication, 2002]