Born: Nancy Leigh Prescott
Leigh Brown was an unseen force behind Shep. She was the producer for his nightly radio show on WOR in New York. He dictated his books and manuscripts to her. They were constant companions and on March 2, 1977 were married until Leigh's death in on July 16,1998. She was an author in her own right writing "The Show Gypsies" which was published in 1975.
Note: According to the Florida Death Certificate, Leigh's first name was listed as Nancy, her middle name as Leigh, and her last name as Shepherd. Her parents are listed as Edward V. Prescott and Dorothy Mears. She was born in Newark, NJ, on May 1, 1939.
She attended Clifton High School ans Shep made mention of it at an appearance there around 1971. It was Leigh's influence and her experiences in high school that led to Shep's occassional references to Saul Kay, the director of the Clifton high school marching band.
She was married to Robert Siroka, Clifton H.S. class of 1955, from January 4, 1958 - 1964. They had a son, Matthew and a daughter, Elizabeth, born August 25, 1958, who also attended Clifton High in 1971. Elizabeth passed away 9-24-2010 survived by her son, William Cartaina.
When Shep passed away in 1999, his will included a bequest on behalf of Leigh "to the University of Pennsylvania to establish a scholarship fund for girls only at the Veterinary School in the name of Leigh Brown Shepherd." (See pic)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shep "interviews" Leigh
There was a special on WNET channel 13 New York sometime in '68-'69. It was called "The Three Worlds of Jean Shepherd".
The show was 30 minutes long and there were three ten minute segments covering radio, live performances (Limelight Shows), and writing books. It was narrated by "John" (Gambling?) who also interviews Shep for each segment. In the last segment interview about writing, Shep tells John about how he writes late at night after the radio show and uses Leigh as a sounding board. Shep then turns to Leigh and 'interviews' her about how it is working with him. (See link to audio file.)
|
