Background
Lemay, J.A. Leo was born on January 17, 1935 in Bristow, Virginia, United States. Son of Joseph Albert and Valencia Lee (Winslow) Lemay.
(Here is a study of the character, writings, and ideals of...)
Here is a study of the character, writings, and ideals of Captain John Smith, popularly recognized as the greatest English explorer and colonizer of his time - perhaps of all time. Reading closely the facts of Smith's life and, especially, Smith's own words, J. A. Leo Lemay offers the fullest appreciation to date of Smith's contributions to American colonization and culture. The result is a new interpretation and appreciation of the man who, more than any other of his time, saw the potential of America for creating a new society unencumbered by the feudal vestiges of the Old World. Smith fulfilled the heroic roles of both the European Renaissance and the American frontier. Before sailing for Jamestown in 1607, he fought in two major European theatres of war, finally serving as captain of a Christian cavalry company in the Balkans fighting against the Turks. In America, Smith became early Virginia's most famous and feared Indian fighter. Powhatan himself testified that "if a twig but breake every one cryeth there commeth Captaine Smith". According to Lemay, Smith was also one of the 17th century's greatest political and social egalitarians and visionaries. His American Dream prefigured and contributed to the ideals that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Joel Barlow, James Madison, and other founders of the American republic built into their aspirations for a new nation and new society. The author describes Smith as an explorer whose skill was unmatched in his time. His maps of the Chesapeake Bay area and the New England coast provided essential information for the colonization of the Virginia, Maryland, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay colonies and remained the most reliable guides to those areas until nearly the end of the century. Lemay also shows Smith to have been a skilled diplomat and trader who treated the Indians fairly and with respect. He was, in the author's words, "the best friend among the whites that the Indians ever has as governor in early Virginia". He sympathized with the Indians' situation and appreciated their point of view, although he conceded that in the end "progress" would prevail.
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( Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York S...)
Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York Sun Described by Carl Van Doren as "a harmonious human multitude," Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American of his time, of perhaps any time. His life and careers were so varied and successful that he remains, even today, the epitome of the self-made man. Born into a humble tradesman's family, this adaptable genius rose to become an architect of the world's first democracy, a leading light in Enlightenment science, and a major creator of what has come to be known as the American character. Journalist, musician, politician, scientist, humorist, inventor, civic leader, printer, writer, publisher, businessman, founding father, and philosopher, Franklin is a touchstone for America's egalitarianism. The first volume traces young Franklin's life to his marriage in 1730. It traces the New England religious, political, and cultural contexts, exploring previously unknown influences on his philosophy and writing, and attributing new writings to him. After his move to Philadelphia, made famous in his Autobiography, Franklin became the Water American in London in 1725, where he was welcomed into that city's circle of freethinkers. Upon his return to the colonies, the sociable Franklin created a group of young friends, the Junto, devoted to self-improvement and philanthropy. He also started his own press and began to edit and publish the Pennsylvania Gazette, which became the most popular American paper of its day and the first to consistently feature American news.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812238540/?tag=2022091-20
( Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York S...)
Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York Sun Described by Carl Van Doren as "a harmonious human multitude," Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American of his time, of perhaps any time. His life and careers were so varied and successful that he remains, even today, the epitome of the self-made man. Born into a humble tradesman's family, this adaptable genius rose to become an architect of the world's first democracy, a leading light in Enlightenment science, and a major creator of what has come to be known as the American character. Journalist, musician, politician, scientist, humorist, inventor, civic leader, printer, writer, publisher, businessman, founding father, philosopher, Franklin is a touchstone for America's egalitarianism. Volume 2 takes Franklin from his marriage in 1730 to his retirement as a printer at the beginning of 1748, examining the mysteries of the illegitimate William Franklin's birth and mother and Franklin's increasing civic activities—starting the Library Company in Philadelphia in 1731, forming Pennsylvania's first volunteer fire company, and becoming an advocate for a clean Philadelphia environment. J. A. Leo Lemay assesses Franklin's numerous writings, attributing to him for the first time a deistic Indian speech, remarking on his use of the second African American persona in journalism, and analyzing his publishing sensation of 1747, The Speech of Miss Polly Baker. These belletristic works are complemented by Franklin's religious, political, and scientific writings, which he produced prodigiously.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812238559/?tag=2022091-20
Lemay, J.A. Leo was born on January 17, 1935 in Bristow, Virginia, United States. Son of Joseph Albert and Valencia Lee (Winslow) Lemay.
Bachelor of Arts Maryland, 1957. AM, University Maryland, 1962. Doctor of Philosophy, University Pennsylvania, 1964.
From instructor to assistant professor English George Washington University, Washington, 1963-1965. Assistant professor English University of California at Los Angeles, 1965-1970, associate professor, 1970-1975, professor English, 1975-1977. H.F. du Pont Winterthur professor English University Delaware, Newark, since 1977.
( Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York S...)
( Named "one of the best books of 2006" by The New York S...)
(Here is a study of the character, writings, and ideals of...)
(Reexamines the evidence for various newspaper and magazin...)
Author: Men of Letters in Colonial Maryland, 1972, The Canon of Benjamin Franklin New Attributions, 1986, The American Dream of Captain John Smith, 1991, Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith?, 1992, Finding Colonial Americans: Essays Honoring J.A. Leo Lemay, 2001, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 1: Journalist 1706-1730, 2006, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730-1747, 2006. (internet book) A Documentary History of Benjamin Franklin, since 1997, The Accounts of Benjamin Franklin through 1747, since 2006. Editor Robert Bolling Woos Anne Miller, 1990.
Advisory committee Center Editions of America Authors, 1974-1976. Member Institute Early American History and Culture, 1978-1981, Cosmos Club, since 1984. With United States Army, 1957-1959.
Member Modern Language Association (Honorary Scholar award 1999), American Humor Studies Association (president 1981), American Antiquarian Society, Society for Study of Southern Literature.
Married Muriel Ann Clarke, August 11, 1965. Children: John Clarke, Lee Clarke, Kate Clarke.