Annie Leonard

Annie Styron Leonard 1935-2011 Annie Styron Leonard passed away on November 13 after a difficult battle with cancer. She was born Ann Sophia Teadora Styron in Redbank, New Jersey in 1935. After receiving her BA from Columbia University in New York City, she worked as a curator for French & Company then later as the Publicity Director for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. She moved to Northern California and worked at The Whole Earth Catalog and continued her education at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and the College of Marin. In 1981, Annie married the writer George Leonard. A black belt in aikido, Annie worked alongside her husband George in teaching workshops at Esalen Institute. She collaborated with George Leonard and Michael Murphy in the creation of Integral Transformative Practice(r), a long-term program for realizing the potential of body, mind, heart and soul. She served on the ITP International Board of Directors. A celebrated fiber artist, she utilized fibers to convey a sense of the ephemeral nature of existence and the interconnectedness of all life. Her work was displayed at many exhibitions in Marin County and the surrounding SF Bay Area and was included in the publications, Fiberarts Design Book Seven and Art Week. One of her sculptures, Within This Tree, was included in a book entitled Speak for the Trees and was on exhibit at the Friesen Gallery in Sun Valley, Idaho in 2009. Annie is preceded in death by her parents Chauncey B. and Gertrude U. Styron, her husband George B. Leonard, and her sister Elizabeth S. Sutcliffe, and a stepdaughter Lillie Leonard Sweetland. Her niece Leslie S. Scardaci and nephew Lystre L. Sutcliffe, grandniece Annalise K. Sutcliffe and grandnephew Nicolas L. Sutcliffe survive her. In addition, she is survived by her stepdaughters, Emily Leonard Fraim, Mimi Leonard Fleishman, and Burr Leonard as well as six step-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations be made to The Vimala Sangha c/o The O'Hanlon Center, 616 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941 or to ITP International, PO Box 544, Corte Madera, CA 94976. A memorial service honoring her life will be set at a later date.