Leon Claire Metz (November 6, 1930 – November 15, 2020) was an American cultural historian, author, television documentary personality, and lecturer on the American Old West period. Metz presented hundreds of his programs to groups all over the U.S. particularly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona. Metz also made numerous TV appearances television documentaries most notably, A&E's ''The Real West'' series, which is also shown on ''

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

''.

Early life and career

Metz was born in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia, Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and ...

, and graduated from

Parkersburg High School Parkersburg High School (PHS) is a secondary school located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States, that serves grades nine through twelve and is part of the Wood County School District. As of the 2018-2019 West Virginia Secondary School ...

in 1948. He then joined the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He was primarily stationed at

Biggs Army Airfield Biggs Army Airfield (formerly Biggs Air Force Base) is a United States Army military airbase located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. History Biggs Field/Biggs Army Airfield (1916–47) On 15 June 1919, following an attack b ...

in El Paso, where he was a propeller mechanic, attaining the rank of staff sergeant, which he would later portray in his book ''Fort Bliss: An Illustrated History''. C.L. "Doc" Sonnichsen a noted historian himself, would serve as an early mentor for the young Metz.

Literary and other works

Metz wrote between fifteen and nineteen books, most notably ''

John Selman John Henry Selman (November 16, 1839 – April 6, 1896) was sometimes identified as an outlaw and sometimes a working lawman of the Old West. He is best known as the man who shot John Wesley Hardin in the Acme Saloon in El Paso, Texas, on August ...

: Texas Gunfighter'' and a biography of Old West lawman Pat Garrett. Metz also hosted a weekly column in the ''

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The newspaper has an approximate daily circulation of 65,000 and 125,000 on Sundays. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (when the '' El Paso Herald-Po ...

'' and hosted a radio show, ''The Leon Metz Show'' on KTSM, which related to Southwestern U.S. history. He was often seen on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television specials about the west. On June 16, 2012, Metz contributed his voice to an

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

album entitle
''Greetings from El Paso''
a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

by local

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Zyme One.

Awards

He was the 2010 Winner of the Ruth Lester Lifetime Achievement Award from th
Texas Historical Commission
This award recognizes an individual who has made a significant, long-term contribution to historic preservation in Texas. In 1985, he was awarded the Saddleman Award.

Personal life and death

Metz, who lived in El Paso, Texas, since the days after his graduation from high school, was married to the former Cheryl Schilling, a speech therapist for

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

children. They have four adult children. Leon Metz died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in El Paso on November 15, 2020. He had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metz, Leon Claire 1930 births 2020 deaths United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War American columnists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Cultural historians Historians of the American West Historical preservationists Parkersburg High School alumni People from El Paso, Texas People from Parkersburg, West Virginia Television personalities from West Virginia United States Air Force airmen University of Texas at El Paso people Writers from West Virginia Journalists from Texas Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas Historians from Texas American male non-fiction writers