His “great love” came late in Spelman’s life, on an occasion as serendipitous as the earlier change of classes at Michigan. He wrote to Leonard Raver, organist for the New York Philharmonic and a teacher at Julliard, to ask for the score of an unpublished work Raver was to play in Philadelphia. He asked also if he might attend both Raver’s rehearsals and his public performance.
“Leonard send the score and said he would be happy to have me listed to both his private and public playing. I went o Philadelphia and fell in love with Leonard, without his knowing of course.
“On returning to San Diego, I wrote to him and he replied, beginning a weekly exchange of letters and cards that lasted for twelve years until Leonard’s death of AIDS complications in 1993. On several occasions, we visited one another—wonderful times when we shared our thoughts and feelings.
“When Leonard died, the person collecting his correspondence for thee inclusion in the Leonard Raver Archives at the Julliard School considered these letters to be too private and personal for public inspection, and so send them on to me. Arranged by years, Leonard had kept every card or letter I had written to him. Now they are my prized possessions and when at last I do get old, I may re-read them.
“He loved me as I loved him, although we never had sex nor did I ever see Leonard nude. It was a unique kind of devotion—spiritual rather than physical, but no less complete and fulfilling. I’ll treasure the memories of what we shared so long as I am alive.”
Spelman’s first marriage ended in the 1950s and in 1961,k he married a fellow Quaker, Alma Brown. She suffered a stroke in 1986 and died a few months later. He now shares his beautiful home with its view of the Pacific and bay with Jamie, his 22-year-old college student grandson. Each day brings its own joys as he leads what he terms “a happy life of non-monogamy.”
At the conclusion of the interview, Spelman summed up his life so far: “I’ve had two wives, two dogs, five children, fourteen grandchildren, eight great-grand children…and five lovers. Of course, some of these figures change every year.”
Jim Kitchen, 73, holds a Ph.D. in political science and was a professor of public administration and urban studies. He was also a Fulbright lecturer and taught in Pakistan. He is currently copublisher and editor in chief of Crazyquilt, a mainstream literary quarterly.
Pratt Spelman died yesterday, May 28, 2000. He was 97 years old and surely the oldest Billy. Pratt was at last years July 4th gathering and loved it. He as not able to get around without an arm to rely on because of his poor eyesight. He just loved all these young men who helped him out. Pratt is a model for us all in several ways. He continued an active sex life until last fall when his health started to fail. His doctor had told him that he could die as easily in Thailand as at home so he has been doing exotic travel the past few years; Thailand was one of his destinations. Last year he stopped teaching. That closed an almost 80 career. In the early thirties he traveled to Paris, France to study with Nadia Boulanger, perhaps the most significant music teacher of the 20th century. Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and many others were her students. While in Paris Pratt was hired as the organist for the American Cathedral, a most prestigious position. Two years ago Pratt was honored by the American Organist Guild because more of his students had passed their very difficult tests than any other teachers. In fact, Pratt told me that he was proud that many of his students played better than he did.
Pratt’s doctorate was in Art History and most of his career he was head of the department of music and art at the University of the Redlands. Pratt became a Quaker in the middle 1930’s and was instrumental in forming Pacific Yearly Meeting, the organization of unprogrammed Quaker for, at that time, the western united states, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. During W.W.II Pratt helped many young men become conscious objectors. When the University of the Redlands was “conscripted” to provide training for military officers, Pratt was a lone voice of objection. The consequence is that he was shunned for many years and lost his job as a church organist. That was a significant sum from his professor’s salary. Pratt was steadfast against gamboling because the money had not been earned. When the university wanted to have a raffle as a fund raiser Pratt told them he had a better idea. He suggested that they have all the sorority girls become prostitutes, and they would get a lot more money. He was met with horrified objections. His reply was, “If you are willing to do one thing that is immoral, why not do something immoral that is really profitable?” The university dropped the plans for a raffle.
Pratt was predeceased by his oldest son who was a neurosurgeon. He is survived by his remaining four children and his partner of seven years, Bill Lindley. Rob Roy Woodman Found on Billenet, post dated May 29th, 2000
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His full name was Leslie Pratt Spellman ( he preffered Pratt) and there’s a 3 part biography in the Oberlin College archives where he taught music for many decades.
part 1 http://www.oberlinlgbt.org/personal-histories/spelman-1/
part 2 http://www.oberlinlgbt.org/personal-histories/spelman-2/
part 3 http://www.oberlinlgbt.org/personal-histories/spelman-3/
As mentioned earlier, from school days on, there has always been one “special” friend in his life, and there is today.
His “great love” came late in Spelman’s life, on an occasion as serendipitous as the earlier change of classes at Michigan. He wrote to Leonard Raver, organist for the New York Philharmonic and a teacher at Julliard, to ask for the score of an unpublished work Raver was to play in Philadelphia. He asked also if he might attend both Raver’s rehearsals and his public performance.
“Leonard send the score and said he would be happy to have me listed to both his private and public playing. I went o Philadelphia and fell in love with Leonard, without his knowing of course.
“On returning to San Diego, I wrote to him and he replied, beginning a weekly exchange of letters and cards that lasted for twelve years until Leonard’s death of AIDS complications in 1993. On several occasions, we visited one another—wonderful times when we shared our thoughts and feelings.
“When Leonard died, the person collecting his correspondence for thee inclusion in the Leonard Raver Archives at the Julliard School considered these letters to be too private and personal for public inspection, and so send them on to me. Arranged by years, Leonard had kept every card or letter I had written to him. Now they are my prized possessions and when at last I do get old, I may re-read them.
“He loved me as I loved him, although we never had sex nor did I ever see Leonard nude. It was a unique kind of devotion—spiritual rather than physical, but no less complete and fulfilling. I’ll treasure the memories of what we shared so long as I am alive.”
Spelman’s first marriage ended in the 1950s and in 1961,k he married a fellow Quaker, Alma Brown. She suffered a stroke in 1986 and died a few months later. He now shares his beautiful home with its view of the Pacific and bay with Jamie, his 22-year-old college student grandson. Each day brings its own joys as he leads what he terms “a happy life of non-monogamy.”
At the conclusion of the interview, Spelman summed up his life so far: “I’ve had two wives, two dogs, five children, fourteen grandchildren, eight great-grand children…and five lovers. Of course, some of these figures change every year.”
Jim Kitchen, 73, holds a Ph.D. in political science and was a professor of public administration and urban studies. He was also a Fulbright lecturer and taught in Pakistan. He is currently copublisher and editor in chief of Crazyquilt, a mainstream literary quarterly.
Pratt Spelman died yesterday, May 28, 2000. He was 97 years old and surely
the oldest Billy. Pratt was at last years July 4th gathering and loved it.
He as not able to get around without an arm to rely on because of his poor
eyesight. He just loved all these young men who helped him out. Pratt is a
model for us all in several ways. He continued an active sex life until
last fall when his health started to fail. His doctor had told him that he
could die as easily in Thailand as at home so he has been doing exotic
travel the past few years; Thailand was one of his destinations. Last year
he stopped teaching. That closed an almost 80 career. In the early
thirties he traveled to Paris, France to study with Nadia Boulanger, perhaps
the most significant music teacher of the 20th century. Leonard Bernstein,
Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and many others were her students. While in
Paris Pratt was hired as the organist for the American Cathedral, a most
prestigious position. Two years ago Pratt was honored by the American
Organist Guild because more of his students had passed their very difficult
tests than any other teachers. In fact, Pratt told me that he was proud
that many of his students played better than he did.
Pratt’s doctorate was in Art History and most of his career he was head of
the department of music and art at the University of the Redlands. Pratt
became a Quaker in the middle 1930’s and was instrumental in forming Pacific
Yearly Meeting, the organization of unprogrammed Quaker for, at that time,
the western united states, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
During W.W.II Pratt helped many young men become conscious objectors. When
the University of the Redlands was “conscripted” to provide training for
military officers, Pratt was a lone voice of objection. The consequence is
that he was shunned for many years and lost his job as a church organist.
That was a significant sum from his professor’s salary. Pratt was steadfast
against gamboling because the money had not been earned. When the
university wanted to have a raffle as a fund raiser Pratt told them he had a
better idea. He suggested that they have all the sorority girls become
prostitutes, and they would get a lot more money. He was met with horrified
objections. His reply was, “If you are willing to do one thing that is
immoral, why not do something immoral that is really profitable?” The
university dropped the plans for a raffle.
Pratt was predeceased by his oldest son who was a neurosurgeon. He is
survived by his remaining four children and his partner of seven years, Bill
Lindley.
Rob Roy Woodman
Found on Billenet, post dated May 29th, 2000