HR0274 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0274 LRB102 18329 LAW 26083 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Leonard J. Kniffel of Lincoln Park, who passed away on March 19, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Leonard J. Kniffel was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan on August 25, 1947; he was raised by his grandmother in rural Michigan; he attended Armada Area Schools; he graduated from Oakland University and moved to Detroit in 1970; he earned his master's degree in English and his master's degree in Library Science at Wayne State University in 1975, during which time he worked as a page at the Detroit Public Library; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel worked as a librarian at the Detroit Public Library for 18 years; during his tenure, he traveled extensively as a journalist and ambassador for reading by reporting on the annual conferences of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, which took him across Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America; he was active in programming and outreach to the public, reviewed books for Library Journal, and wrote articles about books for local newspapers and magazines; while working in the library's language and literature department, he became active in the local literary scene and established his own small publishing operation, Fallen Angel Press, and published some dozen poetry chapbooks from 1974 to 1982; he was one of the founders of the Poetry Resource Center (PRC) of Michigan, the editor of the PRC Newsletter, and an organizer of the annual Michigan Poetry Festival; at the same time, he became involved in historic preservation, photography, and video; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel joined the staff of American Libraries, the flagship magazine of the American Library Association (ALA), in Chicago in 1988; he became the managing editor in 1989; he served as the editor-in-chief from 1996 to 2011; he oversaw the magazine during a time of change, helping create a modernized website, an online library career center called ALA JobLIST: Jobs in Library and Information Science and Technology, a weekly electronic newsletter titled American Libraries Direct, a video operation, and a web-first publishing model in response to the declining advertising base for print; he wrote numerous news reports, feature articles, and editorials on issues ranging from censorship to public service; he also blogged for ALA's website; he published many photographs in the magazine, including the 1992 cover photo of members from ALA's Gay and Lesbian Task Force marching in the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco; he was the creator and publisher of the ALA's @ your library public awareness website (www.atyourlibrary.org); he was especially proud of producing the video documentary Loss and Recovery, which covered librarians who witnessed the 9/11 terrorist attacks; he retired from ALA in 2012; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel was an author and blogger; he wrote the travel memoir A Polish Son in the Motherland: An American's Journey Home in 2005; he published Reading with the Stars: A Celebration of Books and Libraries in 2011, which featured interviews he conducted over ten years with such luminous library advocates as President Barack Obama, entertainers Julie Andrews and Jamie Lee Curtis, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, First Lady Laura Bush, and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; he produced Musicals on the Silver Screen in 2013; he wrote two memoirs titled Busia: Seasons on the Farm with My Polish Grandmother and Busia: School Days on the Farm with my Polish Grandmother; he ran the blog Polish Son (polishson.com), where he wrote about Poland and shared recipes and stories about his family and articles about libraries; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel was proud of his Polish heritage and became focused on the Polish Diaspora in later years; he was involved in the formation of the Jan Karski Educational Foundation, and he was part of the effort to secure the Presidential Medal of Freedom for Karski and was at the White House when President Obama presented the award posthumously in 2011; he became the executive director of the Chicago-based Polish American Librarians Association (PALA) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Polish Museum of America (PMA) in 2014; he published Poland & the Holocaust, an extensive reading list on the PALA website, in 2015; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel supported many charitable and educational institutions; he enjoyed traveling with his spouse, and he especially enjoyed visiting France and Poland; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel was a leader in the Polish-American and LGBTQ+ communities who was driven by his sense of curiosity and spontaneity; he will be missed; and

WHEREAS, Leonard Kniffel is survived by his life partner of almost 43 years, Carlon B. Walker; dozens of cousins; and his many friends and relatives in the U.S., Poland, England, and elsewhere around the world; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Leonard J. Kniffel and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Leonard Kniffel as an expression of our deepest sympathy.