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 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…
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 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 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,…
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.…
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…
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.
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…
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 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…
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 "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 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 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 tells of his start in bread making. He tells of his rye recipe, which given by Betty Bond. His first batch of bread was resulted from his inquiring to Margaret on how to make it--alarmed, she merely handed him the cook book. Kenneth later…
Kenneth tells of his encounter with Winnie Cobey. Winnie brought him a recipe book from a monastery in California. Included in this book was a far superior bread recipe, which he started to use. Kenneth's interest in cooking picked up as Margaret's…
Kenneth received a letter from a French scholar who was writing his dissertation at the University of Paris, asking if Kenneth could provide him with copies of the economic plan and other documents. Kenneth sent him the documents and the scholar's…
In 1947 Kenneth was invited to give the Haskell lectures at the University of Chicago. It was one of the six most prestigious lectures in religion and philosophy in all of the US. A week before the lectures he loaded his material and came to Chicago…
Kenneth was invited to give the Haskell lectures because A. Eustace Haydon, his doctoral supervisor, was retiring and wanted Kenneth to succeed him. He told Kenneth that he will never forget him, and went on to tell how he would prepare for his class…
Kenneth had one further temptation to leave government when, in 1947, Chicago University invited him to deliver the Haskell lectures in comparative religion. These were the most prestigious lectures in religion in the United States. This, however,…
Kenneth and Margaret make final remarks on the taping. They thank Kip for doing the recordings. Kenneth says "thank you" in Thai, and states that they have great appreciation for the records.
Kenneth received, through some persuasion, a three year contract at American University. He was instantly chosen to set up the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies. The program was quite successful and active, as Kenneth was quite up to date…
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…
Kenneth was standing in line for more than an hour to get his car checked. The car passed the inspection and the man who was supposed to change the sticker on the windshield just ignored him. Kenneth pulled out a book and started reading, completely…