Leonard Feinberg (1914-2006)
FEINBERG, ALESHKER, FEINBERG, OKNER, AVIVA, REYNOLDS
Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 3/3/2006 at 12:00:02
THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, March 2, 2006.
Leonard Feinberg died Sunday, Feb. 26, after a brief illness at Wesley Palms Retirement Community in San Diego. Friends and family are invited to a celebration of his life at 3 p.m. Friday, March 3, at Wesley Palms Retirement Community, 2404 Loring St., San Diego. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Macular Degeneration Research.
Leonard Feinberg was born Aug. 26, 1914, in Vitebsk, Russia, to Samuel and Belle (Feinberg) Aleshker. In 1923, he and his mother fled the Bolshevik Revolution and settled in Chicago. He was naturalized in 1933. He was a naval officer on Adak in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in 1937, a master's degree in 1938 and a doctorate degree in 1946. His dissertation was on Sinclair Lewis.
He taught at Iowa State University from 1946-82, retiring as a distinguished professor of sciences and humanities. Other academic honors include Fulbright lecturer at the University of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1957-58; visiting lecturer in India, Japan, Hong Kong, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia; professor of the year, faculty citation, and outstanding teacher awards; and the Wilton Park International Service Award, 1990. Among other courses, he taught creative writing, satire and American literature. Feinberg was a dedicated and inspiring teacher, and he kept in touch with many of his students throughout the years.
Internationally respected as an authority on humor and satire, Feinberg's publications include "Man and Laughter," 1955; "The Satirist," 1963 (being republished this March); the classic "Introduction to Satire," 1967; "Asian Laughter," 1971; "The Secret of Humor," 1978 (also translated into Japanese); "ET: A Visitor's Guide to the USA," 2002; "Hypocrisy: Don't Leave Home Without It," 2002; "Where the Williwaw Blows," 2003; and "Waking the Tiger: A Novel of Sri Lanka," 2005. He once said that writing, for him, wasn't a hobby; it was a necessity. Disciplined and methodical, he found great pleasure in sitting at his desk and working on a new manuscript.
Although Leonard was a man of many accomplishments, there was much more to his life than a list of awards and publications. He was a charming gentleman, a delightful raconteur with a sardonic sense of humor, which he maintained (amazingly enough) until the end. He was a loving husband and a wonderful father and grandfather. He will be deeply missed by his friends and family.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 60 years, ne้ Lilian Virginia Okner; and one son, Tommy Feinberg.
He is survived by one daughter, Elyn Feinberg Aviva (Gary White) of Longmont, Colo.; and one grandson, Jesse Leonard Reynolds (Yui Kamata) of Irvine, Calif.
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