Lloyd L. Morain

Lloyd L. Morain
A Eulogy
By Ingrid Matson Wekerle


Lloyd L. Morain, longtime Carmel resident, passed away peacefully on July 13, 2010 at Monterey's Westland House-Hospice after a period of illness at home.
Born in Pomona, California, on April 2, 1917, he was the youngest of four children born to Adelheide Gutheil Morain and Jesse Morain.
His parents stemmed from the vast Ohio farmlands and, in pioneer spirit, moved westward to establish solid new roots in Southern California.
The ancestors of Lloyd's father were French Huguenots; those of his mother were German. His father, Jesse Morain, became a minister of a little church in a high Sierra lumber town. He later practiced law and established a teaching career.
In the years Adelheide Gutheil Morain was growing up it was customary for a girl child to attend school through only the third grade. When her children reached teenage years and young adulthood, Lloyd's mother enrolled in U.C.L.A. with a major in Ornithology and was later given an appointment on a college faculty.
After graduating from U.C.L.A. Lloyd became a multifaceted leading figure in a wide variety of careers.
Lloyd's friend Irving Wallace engaged him as psychological consultant for the leading film stars of the Hollywood movie industry. Marlene Dietrich and Hedi Lamar were among his clients. Charles Boyer and Dashiell Hammett were among his friends.
The actors and directors in the studios recognized Lloyd's gift of bringing people into a more natural understanding of themselves by just talking with them, listening to them and using his intuition. Lloyd was also considered a keenly insightful palmist. He was quickly sought after as the "Guru of Hollywood."
In the 40s Robert Pritikin asked Lloyd to work with him on the humanization of health care and preventative practices.
Lloyd later joined the industrial world in various capacities. In the 40s he visited his uncle in Illinois and connected with the University of Chicago when U.S. Steel contacted him and offered him a director's position as industrial psychologist, with a title of Engineer. They had heard of his successes in Hollywood and told him he had been recommended for his intellect and intuitive gifts. His directions were to acquaint himself with everything at U.S. Steel and, at the end of six months, to tell them what he would like to contribute to the workings of the company. Lloyd began to write the brochures and training manuals. His promotions began and soon he was writing job descriptions. This was after Pearl Harbor. The draft had begun and job titles were crucial for the necessary draft deferrals. Lloyd was given the added responsibility of writing the deferral letters.
Toward the end of WWII Lloyd felt he needed to contribute to the war effort. Through recommendations from U.S. Steel he was welcomed into the U.S. Air Force, stationed near Salisbury, England, and given the detail of Historian. He was to keep a record of all that was going on and to "observe keenly." Lloyd was also put on "Education detail" and was told he could develop that job as he saw fit. During his serious contributions to that post Lloyd lightened the mood of the troops a bit by putting on a sŽance on the town square as the troops stood around, watching, spellbound. A very young General Westmoreland was not always in agreement with Lloyd.
After V. Day, Lloyd was assigned to start schools for the many servicemen who were experiencing long delays before their return home by boat. The first such school was started in Austria. Lloyd made certain that the interests of the men were reflected in the courses which included earth sciences, literature, languages and history. Some of the men wanted to learn about chicken farming. Lloyd structured a course related to that which became very popular.
Arthur Strasburger, later a realtor in Carmel, was involved in one of the courses in England. Before, finally, returning home, Lloyd was hired by J. Walter Thompson in London and, for relaxation, played tennis at Wimbledon.
Lloyd's good luck reached its peak when he met Mary Dewing at a Semantics meeting in Hollywood. Mary's career in teaching and social work led to her interest in social reform, an interest which Lloyd shared. After their marriage Lloyd was supportive of the world conferences on planned parenthood pioneered by Mary and of the related clinics she established in many countries.
Lloyd and Mary shared a deep commitment to Humanism as a life philosophy which brings together the subjective and the objective and furthers moral values.
Lloyd became a founding director of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He served as president of the American Humanist Association in both the 50s and in the 1970s. He edited the Humanist Magazine from 1979 through 1990.
Lloyd and Mary were both fellows of the World Academy of Art and Science.
In childhood, Lloyd became aware of the needs of those who live, ignored, on the outer edge of society's mainstream. He made helping and appreciating them a major goal of his life.
A worker helping Lloyd on his wilderness properties in the Carmel Highlands once likened himself to a cougar heard in the area. He, too, wished to live free of the rigid constraints of society and of civilization in general, as did the cougar.
Lloyd did extensive research on the working drifters in our society who made significant contributions to the development of our country. He named his book "The Human Cougar." He found the human cougars good, honest workers who sought fair pay for excellent work, accepted fair play in matters of law and were proud of their military records. In reviewing this book the Monterey Peninsula Herald printed "Who is to say that there isn't a cougar waiting to escape from inside each one of us!?"
In the 1980s new machinery, unionization and migrant workers made life difficult for the cougars. Lloyd and Mary converted some old barracks in Salinas, equipped them with blankets and supplies and opened them for the cougars and the other homeless who had been sleeping outdoors under the trees.
Lloyd's gift as a writer became evident while he was in high school. Encouraged by his teacher he submitted a short story for a contest and won first place. He continued to write. His philosophy of giving is reflected in his many articles published in the Humanist Magazine and especially in his book, co-authored with Mary, "Humanism as the Next Step." Since the first edition by Beacon Press in 1954, this book has been reprinted numerous times. The new revised edition came out in 1998 and again in 2008.
In praise of this book Margaret Sanger said "At last I can feel comfortable applying the humanist label to myself."
It came to Lloyd's attention that the prisons provided no support system after ex-cons were released. He realized that rehabilitation was crucial if they were to become productive members of society. The wardens of numerous prisons, including San Quentin, Vacaville and Alcatraz, had deep respect for Lloyd's work in seeking appropriate employment opportunities for them. Lloyd and the wardens became fast friends. Due to Lloyd's efforts, many ex-cons were mainstreamed into a better quality of life than before. When necessary, Lloyd found employers willing to hire them by actually paying their salaries to the employer himself.
Lloyd has entered into the support of the arts and of cultural activities of every kind. In the late 50s he again became involved in the motion picture industry, this time as producer and director. His film "Flight," based on Steinbeck's short story, won a prize at the Cannes film festival.
Lloyd managed the Illinois Gas Co. from 1950 through 1988. From