The Central New Jersey Home News, New Brunswick, New Jersey, January 12, 1940

While Leon never became the author he dreamed of being, his son, Martin, published an autobiography, Dream It! Do It!: My Half-Century Creating Disney’s Magic Kingdoms, in 2013. Marty wrote for University of California’s newspaper while studying there and went on to work for Disney for 53 years, first creating marketing and publicity publications and eventually as Vice President of Creative Development, as well as International Ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering. During his career he supervised the design and construction phases of many Disney parks such as Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and California Adventure.

In his autobiography Marty tells how his father was extremely well respected in their community, and how, after putting in long hours at the high schools and junior high schools he taught at, he’d travel across town to teach night classes to students immigrating to the United States. In the late 80′s, Jim Hankla, the city manager of Long Beach, California, told Marty that he wouldn’t be where he was without Leon’s skillful guidance, helping him turn his life around.