Rose Garden Resident

Letters & Opinions

McKay's enthusiasm for 'old days' was contagious

By Linda Taaffe

passing of lifelong resident and historian Leonard McKay. Leonard, known in the community as "Mr. San Jose," was a walking resource of San Jose's good old days. He spent his adult life chasing down and preserving stories about San Jose's people and places. As a result, he could recite, with precision, the date a home in one of the city's historic neighborhoods was completed, the architect who built it, what inspired the design, how many had families lived there over the years and whether they had a cat or a dog. He had more information about San Jose stored in his head than most textbooks written about the area.

I didn't know Leonard well, but I felt a bond to this man who had taken the time to carefully research and share San Jose's stories, for I, too, have a love of local history, particularly that of Santa Clara Valley where my ancestors first settled in 1777. It was through Leonard and fellow historian Clyde Arbuckle's writings that I learned quite a few facts about my own family.

I was fortunate enough to have met Leonard, who lived in the Rose Garden area, at the newspaper last April while trying to dig up local details on the 1906 earthquake for coverage of the quake's100th anniversary. I called Leonard, hoping he could point me to some information. All it took was one phone call, and he was at the office that afternoon, wearing his cowboy hat and carrying an armful of scrapbooks. He had a wealth of information pertaining to the quake and its impact along the Peninsula (We ended up publishing a story about the event written by him).

His enthusiasm for the past became apparent as he spread out his photos and yellowed newspaper clippings and began to pore over them, explaining how he had obtained the information.

Apparently, the family who owned the scrapbooks didn't know what they had inherited. When Leonard learned about the books, he purchased them, or I should say boxes of them containing scores of articles dating back to the 1930s. He told me how he had just gotten home with the boxes when he realized that one of the indexes was missing. He turned around and drove all the way back to pick up the index just as the family was preparing to toss it out. It was a close save.

Leonard entrusted me with the photos for a few days while he went to Southern California to help a former San Jose firefighter celebrate his 99th birthday.

I think it was this enthusiasm, tireless effort and willingness to share that attracted people to Leonard. He made San Jose come alive with his stories. He gave importance to the city and turned people on to history.

I hope people listened, took note and will continue his legacy.

Linda Taaffe is editor of the Rose Garden Resident.