My Friend: Leonard Ward Roberts

My Friend: Leonard Ward Roberts by Lawrence Edward Bowling Leonard Roberts and I were young men together at Berea College in 1936-38 and at the University of Iowa in 1942-43. When I transferred to Berea in the fall of 1936 as a junior majoring in English, Leonard Roberts was a sophomore, also majoring in English. We were not typical English majors. I was told that I looked like a math major, which I had originally intended to be; and Leonard looked like an athlete, which he actually was. He was an outstanding athlete, specializing in the javelin throw, the shot put, the pole vault, the broad jump, and the high jump; and he held one or more state records for several years in one or more of these events. In the Berea College 1938 annual there is a picture of Leonard sailing over the high jump pole. Because of his athletic performance, his student labor assignment at Berea was assisting with the freshman course in calisthenics, which I, as a transfer student, was required to take. It was as tough as anything in the army, in which Leonard had served for four years before coming to college. There were several student assistant instructors in that course, but Leonard was my favorite because he was always helpful and always had an encouraging word. Whenever a student worked hard and showed improvement, Leonard would give him a pat on the back and say, "You're a good man." Leonard and I had been born and reared in Eastern Kentucky, he in Floyd County and I in Carter County. We soon discovered that we also had other things in common. We loved Shakespeare and admired Kentucky author Jesse Stuart who lived in Greenup County, twenty miles from my home at Grayson; and we aspired to be writers like Jesse Stuart. During his junior year and my senior year, Leonard and I took a course in Shakespeare and also became roommates in Room 120 in Pearsons Hall. Leonard could quote so much Shakespeare that one of his neighbors in Floyd County had said of him: "That boy knows more Shakespeare than Shakespeare himself." During this period, Leonard began dating Edith Reynolds, a student at Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College, fifteen miles away. One Sunday he brought her to Berea and was eager to know what I thought of her. Since she was a most attractive and sweet-tempered young lady, I had no hesitation in expressing my approval. But I think Leonard had already made up his mind, regardless of what I might think. One night during the full moon Leonard came home from a date with Edith in unusually high spirits and informed me, "Boy, that old moon was rocking like a cradle tonight!" A few days later, he took great pleasure in showing me an engagement ring he had bought for Edith. I graduated from Berea in 1938 and accepted a scholarship for graduate study at Vanderbilt, because Jesse Stuart had done graduate work there. In June, 1939, 1 received the M.A. degree from Vanderbilt, at the same time that Leonard was receiving the A.B. from Berea. His first teaching position was in Breathitt County and mine was in Carter County. By this time both of us were married, each to a girl approved by the other, and both of us were anticipating fatherhood. It had been more than a year since we had last seen each other on the Berea campus, and we planned to come back to Berea for Homecoming during the Thanksgiving weekend. I was there on time, looking for Leonard. But Leonard was a whole day late. I asked what had happened. He said his clock didn't alarm. When he awoke, it was almost time for the train, which was usually a little late. He leaped out of bed and started running toward the railway station, putting on his clothes as he went. When he came puffing up to the station, the Stationmaster was standing on the platform , thumbing through a sheaf of papers. "Am I in time to catch that train?" Leonard panted. "Yep," the man said, "as soon as it comes...