Leonard, Peg Layton

1931 - 1983

Converse County

Biographical and Professional Information

Peg Layton Leonard's courage and determination were seemingly limitless. She was a quadriplegic writer who authored and edited several books as well as freelancing for both the Douglas Budget and Casper Star-Tribune. She was able to type twenty words per minute for up to five hours with a plastic mouth wand and specially rigged typewriter placed on a hospital table at chin level, while seated in her wheelchair. She said, "Sometimes I'd like to move faster, and there is a point of frustration, but perserverance has paid off." Peg contracted polio while a college student and spent time in an iron lung in California before returning home to Douglas. When both parents died, she married her friend, Ed Leonard, who prepared a special van so that the couple could travel. Peg's goal was to "write novel after novel after novel." (Source: Westerners by Jean Henry-Mead).