I pieced together the following obit for my dad mostly using his own words. My brother and I added a bit here and there, but Dad got the last word. Yet another benefit of being a writer.
Check out the pic of my pops 
on assignment for LOOK magazine with John Lennon.
Miss you, my Dad.
Local writer Leonard Gross passed away in the early hours of Thursday, April 23, two days after his 87th birthday, following a brief illness. Healthy and vital nearly until the end, just a month before his death he finished writing a play, which he felt was his best, then headed out to the driving range to hit a bucket of golf balls.
From the outset, he had a plan: to spend 20 years as a reporter, learning about the world, and then to turn that knowledge into books, plays and films. His career in magazines—principally at LOOK where he served as a senior editor, Latin American correspondent, European editor and West Coast editor—earned him two Overseas Press Club citations for foreign reporting, a National Headliners Club award for “outstanding achievement”, a Freedom Foundation award for contribution to economic education, and a National School Bell award for stories on education.
During his career and incredibly rich life, his friends and acquaintances were a Who’s Who of the movers and shakers on this planet—Jackie Robinson, Harry Belafonte, John Lennon, Prince Charles, Norman Lear, Milos Forman, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Pierre Salinger, Charlton Heston, Jacqueline Bisset, as well as any number of world leaders.
Leonard was the author, co-author or ghostwriter of 23 books, including several bestsellers and recently self-published The Memoirs of JFK, a novel based on interviews he conducted with 50 of Kennedy’s inner circle after the President’s death. Five other novels were dual main selections of the Literary Guild. Two days before he passed, Leonard’s nonfiction book The Last Jews in Berlin, hit #8 on the Amazon bestseller list and #5 on B&N when its new electronic publisher ran a promotional campaign.
In both his nonfiction and fiction work, Leonard’s themes echoed his strong convictions about the basic goodness of human beings, and our capacity and desire to solve problems. This concern for solutions extended to the personal realm. Over the years, he also co-authored or ghostwrote a series of books dedicated to self-improvement.
Leonard, who was a Bend Arts, Beautification and Culture Commission member, was lucky enough to find love twice in his life. His beloved wife, Jackie, mother to their two children Linden and Jeff, passed away just shy of their 50th anniversary. During his final years, his “lady friend” Betsy Warriner enriched his spirit and his life. He is also survived by grandchildren, Julia and Benjamin. His last words were: “Family.”
Per Leonard’s request, a “good party” will be held for friends and family in the next couple of months. Meanwhile contributions in his name can be made to Volunteer Connect, 404 NE Norton Avenue, Bend, OR 97701 (http://www.volunteerconnectnow.org/).
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