[Edited December 2015.]
A forgotten Fortean, and an . . . important is the wrong word: emblematic one, I guess . . . not so much for what he did but because he was a node in so many Fortean networks. It is possible to tell much of Forteanism’s middle history—from the 1940s to the 1950s—through him.
I’ve written about George Leite before, years ago, but more information has come to light (pun unintended, but apposite), or I’ve done been research, or something, but the story is more complicated and interesting than my earlier version had. Richer, at the very least. And—be warned—much, much (much) longer.
George Thurston Leite was born 20 December 1920 in Rhode Island to Joaquin and Margaret Thurston, making him among the younger of the early Forteans. By the time he was born, Fort’s first book had already been published, and his entire corpus would be finished—and Fort dead—before Leite turned twelve. Joaquin, born in 1880, was from Portugal, immigrating to the States in 1912; Margaret was from Massachusetts. George was their only son. They were married around 1917. Joaquin was a preacher in Fall River, Massachusetts, for the Baptist Convention. He was also a mason.
A forgotten Fortean, and an . . . important is the wrong word: emblematic one, I guess . . . not so much for what he did but because he was a node in so many Fortean networks. It is possible to tell much of Forteanism’s middle history—from the 1940s to the 1950s—through him.
I’ve written about George Leite before, years ago, but more information has come to light (pun unintended, but apposite), or I’ve done been research, or something, but the story is more complicated and interesting than my earlier version had. Richer, at the very least. And—be warned—much, much (much) longer.
George Thurston Leite was born 20 December 1920 in Rhode Island to Joaquin and Margaret Thurston, making him among the younger of the early Forteans. By the time he was born, Fort’s first book had already been published, and his entire corpus would be finished—and Fort dead—before Leite turned twelve. Joaquin, born in 1880, was from Portugal, immigrating to the States in 1912; Margaret was from Massachusetts. George was their only son. They were married around 1917. Joaquin was a preacher in Fall River, Massachusetts, for the Baptist Convention. He was also a mason.