Leo Buscaglia

[lapietra]

This man touched my life so profoundly, and yet I didn't know he passed away, in 1998, of a heart attack. I would still be in the dark if Aphrodite didn't mention him in sparticle's thread ...

Back in about 1996, after I had graduated from college (USC, which was where he taught for awhile) I was back visiting and spoke with one of the people in music administration, Peggy L., who was a good friend of his. Somehow he came up in conversation, and Peggy suggested that I contact him, because he sponsored performances in Lake Tahoe, where he lived. Despite the fact that my self-esteem was very poor, I made myself write a letter; the thing that motivated me most was that I admired his work and took it to heart, and I mentioned that in the letter. He wrote back, personally, a few weeks later, telling me he'd been out of town, and he'd be very happy to have me perform. (I still have the letter; I kept it up on a bulletin board to remind me, for awhile...)
Unfortunately, my poor self-esteem and fears kept me from following up. I always meant to write back when I felt more confident about my abilities. I look back now and realize I would have been just fine, and I would have gotten to meet this amazing human being, who taught that we should never fear to express love; that it's the thing that makes life worth living; and the more people who take this to heart, the better the world will be.
I will never have the opportunity to sing for him now, not in person, anyway. This is an important lesson I've learned today... I'm crying, but I'm happy and awestruck that, once again, Leo Buscaglia has touched my life profoundly, even in death.

[red]

For some reason I thought your guy was this guy.

[Aphrodite]

I first became of Leo Buscaglia's work when I took my first Human Relations course in College. The professor was the 'head' *sorry* psychiatrists for the prison that houses the criminally insane. He introduced us to Dr. Buscaglia's work. He was a brilliant and wonderful man. I used to quote his work often in my university courses. What a loss.

[LadyCrow]

My mother & aunt opened an art & drafting supplies store about 17+ years ago. They were (& still are) big fans of Leo Buscaglia, & my aunt wrote him a letter about the store opening (I believe it was also an invitation to visit the store). He wrote them back, wishing them luck (unfortunately, he was unable to come to their store). I thought that was quite nice of him to respond personally, & not have an assistant write the letter for him.