Kenneth wrote a pamphlet on nationalist movements in Southeast Asia for the American Council of Learned Societies. Initially it was published in a learned journal, and the Council paid the journal for copies of the article, which it then…
Kenneth delivered another set of lectures on Oriental philosophy at Yale University. This, along with the Taft lectures, drew the attention of the editor of The Journal of Philosophy at Columbia University, who made Kenneth his principal reviewer on…
Kenneth describes "Kenneth P. Landon Day" which was held in Columbus, Georgia in his honor. It was at this time that he had a conversation with Carter for quite some time, as he was thinking of trying to become the President of the United States. The…
Kenneth tells of the "Pentagon Papers". Through the course of things, Kenneth was interviewed and appeared on CBS and the Cronkite show. A. Eustace Haydon saw the interview and sent him a note saying "Memories of happy days!"
Kenneth describes the period he worked at the University as a period of student unrest. Many protests occured, and he recalled speaking to large groups of people who were ready to disagree with him angrily. After making a slight joke, he eased the…
One of Kenneth's Ph.D. students thought Kenneth was a phony. He thought his stories were contrived, and that he didn't really know what he was talking about. Upon graduating, he found that Kenneth was legitimate in his stories, and Kenneth received a…
Kenneth started from scratch in building the center for South and Southeast Asian Studies at American University. He wanted it to be a top notch program, and brought in many high-quality professors to teach Sanskrit, Hindi, Thai, etc. There were…
As Kenneth had worked two jobs, receiving two full time incomes over the past year, in 1965 he was able to fully pay off the mortgage on the 4711 Fulton St. house in which they lived.
Starting in 1965, Kenneth began work as a professor at American University while also remaining a full-time employee of the State Department. At the end of that year, he retired from the State Department, moving full-time to work at American…
Ernest Griffith, of American University, called upon Kenneth one day near the end of 1964. He explained he had two professors who would be going on sabbatical, and that there would be a gap in the program and they hoped Kenneth might consider.…
Kenneth tells of the scholars on Southeast Asia who built on his work on the region. A man named Skinner, a professor at Cornell, studied The Chinese in Thailand, and came out with his own book on the Chinese in Thailand (Chinese Society in Thailand,…
Kenneth speaks of the three books he has written. All of them were "primary studies" that had never been made before. Siam in Transition was a seminal study that all subsequent studies had to begin with, "whether they liked it or not." His second…
Kenneth's book based on his Haskell lectures, Southeast Asia: Crossroad of Religions, was published not only by Chicago University Press but also by Oxford University Press, as his two previous books had been.
Kenneth gave a dinner for the people in the department of religion at the end of his Haskell lectures. People came and they chatted for a while before Kenneth invited everyone to have dinner. He had prepared for it the best he could, but still he had…
When Kenneth was a student at the University of Chicago under A. Eustace Haydon, he was "a very conservative Calvinist" and Haydon was one of the two leading humanist philosophers in the U.S. Kenneth would challenge Haydon's premises, which Haydon…
Kenneth recalls his time in Wilkesboro visiting with Uncle Henry and several of his cousins. Henry was a Colonel and Kenneth enjoyed going around with him because people were friendly and respected him.
Brad would visit Kenneth and Margaret in the city, but would always leave his car at the edge of town and ask Kenneth to come pick him up (he was afraid of driving in the city). His visits were marked by snide remarks and usually ended in a difficult…
Brad was amazed at how Kenneth and Margaret had made a living. He was especially amazed at what Kenneth was doing as professor of philosophy, then when he entered the government, and when Margaret soldAnna and the money began to flow in. He couldn't…
Kenneth tells the story of the Landons' bulldog, Candy, that Kenneth bought when he was going to Earlham College to make an impression on campus. The dog was very emotional and had an unsual way of greeting visitors, making a mess that Margaret had…
Because of Kenneth's unusual path, the OSS has always claimed him as one of their founding members, though he never was in the OSS. Kenneth believes he is one of those shadowy people in their minds who probably was one of their secret agents all the…
Kenneth's book, The Chinese in Thailand, was bought up by the Japanese, and people and organizations could not find copies for themselves. Years later, at a meeting in Washington, Kenneth met a Japanese Intelligence Officer who had come to meet him.…
Kenneth talks about his experience leaving the OSS for the BEW, when the OSS tried to keep him from going. The experience served him well years later when he left the State Department for the White House staff in the 1950's. There was an…
Kenneth comments on how much the family's life had changed over the past few years. He had expected to spend his life as a Presbyterian minister, but then he couldn't get a church, so he became a professor at Earlham, and expected that he would spend…
Peggy was sixteen at the time Kip was born, and she'd come home and help with the baby. She was going to Wilson High School. So was Bill. Carol was ten and attending school at Alice Deal Junior High. One night, Kenneth collapsed when he and Carol…