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Appalachian professor: ‘Jack of all Trades’ |
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Thursday, 05 October 2006 |
 Special to the Appalachian
by ASHLEY BENNERS
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
“He does ramble, and many think he is insane, but underneath his crazy demeanor dwells genius. If you need your boring class schedule a little shaken up, take him for a lit. or IDS credit,” a student said on RateMyProfessor.com of Dr. Leighton Scott.
Scott, 67, a bounty hunter, sports car racer and carnival worker, is for Appalachian State University students, a teacher.
Scott was born and raised in the industrial town of Easton, Penn.
After he attended first and second prep school, he went on to graduate
from Haverford College in Pennsylvania with a degree in English.
In 1961, he attended Columbia University to pursue a law degree, but found law school was not the best place for him.
“I decided to major in beer instead of law, so law school and I just did not take,” he said.
Following his time at Columbia, Scott worked as an investigative journalist for five years.
Scott then went on to study history at Pennsylvania State University
and Roman decadence during graduate school at University of Cambridge.
“At Cambridge, there was incredible pressure to come up with something brilliant on your own,” he said.
“My biggest strength was being able to speed read German,” he said.
In the summer during college, Scott worked in carnivals.
“That experience stays with you,” he said.
Dr. Rebecca Scott, Leighton’s wife, is a professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.
“She is a genius,” he said.
After meeting in London in 1970, the two have been married for 36 years and have three children.
Leighton’s career at Appalachian State began when he received a phone
call from the history department, although he did not remember having
ever applied for the job.
“I could not believe they were going to pay me to work here,” he said, thrilled to move to the Appalachian Mountains.
Before retirement, he taught at Appalachian for 33 years, beginning in
the history department and then moving to Watauga College.
“They needed help, and we worked together pretty well,” he said.
Over his 30 years of teaching, Scott said of all the courses he taught,
there were none more interesting than his course on “The New Yorker.”
Outside of teaching, Leighton travels extensively.
Every summer during the late 1990s to 2001, Leighton spent a
considerable amount of time in the Balkans and other parts of Europe.
“People have no idea those places are there,” he said.
Scott taught Balkan/Bosnian literature in translation for IDS.
“I wasn’t just being a gypsy,” he said.
Sometimes, he would bring his wife along to places like Greece, but
never to the Balkans due to the risk of undiscovered mines.
“I could stretch the $1,000 in my pocket by eating out of grocery stores,” he said.
“Once I slept under a highway bridge in France.”
Aside from teaching, Leighton cultivated several outside interests
including bounty hunting, professional sports car racing and creative
writing.
“I think of bounty hunters as being land privateers,” he said.
In 2004 and 2005, after 25 hours of study, Leighton received a life-long license to legally chase people who skip bail.
In addition to being a licensed bounty hunter, Leighton is also a
professional sports car racer– a passion he had harbored since
childhood.
“We would be in a bowl most of the time,” he said. “Also, we would try to achieve maximum speed on a straight.”
Leighton said he does not race much anymore because it is an expensive hobby, but still looks back on the experience fondly.
“I can still remember the hill climbs,” he said.
“You knew you were at a race by the sticky, sweet smell of fuel.”
Leighton’s primary interest now is his writing.
He has various works already in publication, including “The Dislocation
of Civilizations,” “SCSC Newsletter,” “Fall 1989” and “Between Men of
Principle,” a short fiction that appeared in the Sept./Oct. 1993 issue
of “North American Review.”
He is presently working on “the great American novel” and will be working on it until January.
Leighton returns to Appalachian State in the spring 2007 to teach World Civilization.
“My wife says I am half outlaw, because I don’t like systems or games. I like to do my own thing,” he said.
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