Kenneth's mother spoke with his high school principal, Miss Haxton, five years after his graduation. The principal was quite surprised to hear that Kenneth was studying to become a minister--she never though that he would come to any good.
It was easy to make friends and there was so much going on. One night Margaret heard music outside just as she was ready to go to bed, and her friend Muriel urged her to come out. There was a group of boys serenading them that night.
Margaret remembers the first time she and Kenneth met. It was at the registrar's office, where Lois McShane was with Margaret. Kenneth had met Lois before, so she was a very important factor in Margaret and Kenneth's meeting.
Kenneth bought an engagement ring for Margaret with the money he got from tips while working at Mrs. Rodin's restaurant. He remembers Margaret putting off their engagement and marriage project. Both wonder if Margaret was afraid, especially because…
Kenneth and Margaret did a fair bit of diplomatic entertaining. One evening they had Queen Ramphai Barni and Prince Supsowat over for dinner. The Queen's brother was sure to note that he was the member of the royal family that likes Margaret's book…
Kenneth and Margaret recount the story of the Madonna and child statue. They wanted the statue to be quite elaborate, and through some trouble and climbing found a man to do the job. The statue was to be of high quality marble, and the sculptor…
Margaret tells the story of her Chinese pictures of Christian scenes. It began when the Landons were living in Siam. Margaret received a magazine for women that contained a picture of a Madonna done in the Chinese manner, and she wanted to have the…
After the Thai-British negotiations in 1946, the Thai government wanted to give a gift to Kenneth. However, Kenneth had the reputation of not accepting gifts of any value. The government had a policy that fine statues of the Buddha could not be taken…
In March of 1942 Kenneth delivered the Taft lectures at Cincinnati. That was his beginning as a professor of Oriental philosophy. The event was stimulated by the course in Chinese philosophy that he had presented at Earlham. The lectures were…
In 1941 Kenneth Landon kept an office in the Library of Congress, where he enlisted the help of Shio Sakanishi, a Tokyo-born Japanese expert working in the Division of Orientalia. Horace Poleman, who became one of Landon’s best friends, worked with…
Margaret returns to Kenneth's first weeks in Washington and the report he presented, based on his knowledge of the terrain in Thailand. She says that when she and Kenneth were in the final years of their second tour in Siam that the Japanese were…
Margaret tells of the Landons' first Christmas in Thailand. It was Peggy's first Christmas, and presents came from the U.S. Even though Adelle and the girls had very little money, they always found ways of sending gifts. She tells of the customs and…
Margaret's desire was to go to Vassar for college. Her parents decided that she should go to Wheaton, so they took her to visit there. To convince her, Margaret's parents bargained with her that she could go to the girls' summer camp again if she…
In 1913 the Mortensons bought a new house at 2400 Harrison St., just a couple of blocks from 2218 Central St. This was a comfortable, plain, square house, like so many throughout the Midwest in those days. The family lived there until 1923 when they…
The Lincolnwood School was a very nice building, with excellent teachers, especially in music and arts. Seventh grade kids all participated in the Evanston Music Festival. Margaret remembers the great musician John McCormack who often sang drunk, and…
Margaret intended to win a scholarship by her good grades. She worked hard in her History class and got 95 on each examination and at the end of the semester the professor gave her 70 because Margaret and her friend had teased him. It cost her the…
Margaret learned very early not to lie or steal. She remembers the first time she lied, she quickly realized she was not good at it. She also recalls stealing a piece of gum and felt so bad about it that she decided that this wasn't for her.
Margaret always loved Christmas. One time A.D. couldn't be home for Christmas, so the family didn't buy a Christmas tree. Margaret found one that someone had thrown away by the road side. She dragged it home triumphantly, and Adelle realized how much…
Margaret's scarlet fever a second time, one year after the first one, and this time it was worse. She was treated just in time, but she became completely deaf in her right ear. Her hearing in the left ear, though, was so acute throughout her…
When Margaret was seven or eight years old she became very sick. The family doctor could not figure out what the disease was, so there was very little that could be done to help her. Suddently she had a terrible convulsion and the sickness was all…
Margaret started making plans for Christmas very early, as she had done since childhood. She planned and managed to buy a $60 typewriter for Kenneth and hid it in her trunk. She was afraid that Kenneth would figure out what she had gotten him.
Margaret was invited to share the room of the junior girls she had met in the late summer because one of them wasn't coming back to Wheaton. This was a tremendous piece of luck to have a junior's room.
Margaret and her sisters grew up in a musical family, and they all had music lessons. Evangeline and Betty were talented musically, Margaret had no gift. Betty had a very brilliant teacher at Northwestern University, but lost it all when she came to…