He was raised by his great-grandmother until he was 11, when he was placed in a foster home in Kansas City, Missouri. He was soon running with the wrong crowd, and at the age of 13 was threatened with a four-year stretch in reform school for buying alcohol under-age. However, the headmaster of his high school, Hugh Oliver Cook, knew that Leonard was being habitually assaulted by the guardian of the foster home, and offered to adopt him if he were not jailed.
Hugh Oliver Cook
Leonard