Real-life Lynyrd Skynyrd dies

Real-life Lynyrd Skynyrd dies

Gym teacher Leonard Skinner clashed with the southern rockers in high school.  

One incident inspired band's name 

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Yes, there really was a Lynard Skynard, but his name was Leonard Skinner. Skinner, a gym teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, was the inspiration for the band’s name. Skinner died yesterday at a nursing home in Florida. He was 77.

Mr. Skinner never asked to become part of rock ’n’ roll lore. He didn’t even like rock ’n’ roll. He was just a by-the-book gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, his alma mater, who, in the late 1960s, sent some students to the principal’s office because their hair was too long.
Gene Odom, who worked security for the band and survived the crash of its plane in 1977, said one of the longhairs was Gary Rossington. Rossington was guitarist in a rock band that would later name itself Lynyrd Skynyrd in a smart-aleck tribute to the gym teacher.

Skinner made friends with the band in later years, and took advantage of the name recognition for his business ventures.  

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