[A distinctly original source of inspiration for one of Florida’s iconic rock bands has passed away. The Los Angeles Times reports that Leonard Skinner, the basketball coach and gym teacher who inspired the name of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Monday in Jacksonville, Fla. He was 77.
Skinner died in his sleep at the St. Catherine Laboure Manor, where he had been living for about a year, said his daughter, Susie Moore. He had Alzheimer’s disease.
Skinner worked at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville in the late 1960s when he sent a group of students to the principal’s office because their hair was too long. The students later formed a band, using a variation of the teacher’s name.]
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_music_blog/2010/09/leonard-skinner-inspiration-for-lynyrd-skynyrd-dead-at-age-77.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2010/09/leonard-skinner-inspiration-for-lynyrd-skynyrd-dies-at-77.html
[...Mr. Skinner never asked to become part of rock 'n roll lore. He didn’t even like rock 'n roll. He was just a by-the-book gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, his alma mater, who, in the late 1960s, sent some students to the principal’s office because their hair was too long.
Gene Odom, who worked security for the band and survived the crash of its plane in 1977, said one of the longhairs was Gary Rossington. Rossington was guitarist in a rock band that would later name itself Lynyrd Skynyrd in a smart-aleck tribute to the gym teacher.
During an interview in January 2009, Mr. Skinner said he was just following the rules about hair length. It always bothered him that the legend grew to say he was particularly tough on them or that he’d kicked them out of school...
Forby Leonard Skinner was born Jan. 11, 1933, in Jacksonville. He graduated from Lee High in 1951. A talented athlete who played basketball into hi sixties, he went to Jacksonville Junior College (now Jacksonville University) on a basketball scholarship before being drafted into the Army...
In 2009, friends organized a tribute to Mr. Skinner at the National Guard Armory on the Westside. There were three bands and a couple of hundred people in attendance, including Lynyrd Skynyrd fans, former students and friends from that big part of Mr. Skinner’s life that had nothing to do with the rock band.
Rosemary Skinner said her husband was touched by the event.
“On the way home, Leonard said, 'You know, we sure have a lot of friends.’ I said, 'Yes we do, Leonard. We do have a lot of friends.’ ”] emphasis added
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-09-20/story/leonard-skinner-lynyrd-skynyrd-namesake-dies-77-0
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