Leonard Skinner dies; rock band adapted teacher's name

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Leonard Skinner, the basketball coach and gym teacher who inspired the name of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died yesterday, his daughter, Susie Moore, said. He was 77.

Skinner died in his sleep at the St. Catherine Laboure Manor in Jacksonville, where he had been living for about a year, his daughter said. Skinner had Alzheimer's disease.

He was working at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville in the late 1960s when he sent a group of students to the principal's office because their hair was too long. Those students later formed a band, using a variation of Skinner's name for their own.

During an interview in January 2009, Skinner said he was always bothered by the way the legend grew to say he was particularly tough on the band members, according to The Florida Times-Union, which first reported Skinner's death. "It was against the school rules," Skinner said then.

The band became popular in the mid-1970s, with hits such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird." Three of the band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed in a 1977 plane crash. The band regrouped and continues to perform today.

Years after sending the young students to the office, Skinner found his son, also named Leonard, listening to an album called "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd."

Skinner eventually made friends with some of the band, according to the paper. They even performed at a Jacksonville bar Skinner owned.

- AP