John Leonard, the literary and cultural critic described by the New York Times as "an early champion of Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and many other authors," died Wednesday. He was 69.
''He really put a lot of us on the map,'' said Mary Gordon. ''He was generous, warm, funny, and he didn't make the mistakes that other men make with women writers. There was no discomfort or condescension with him, no feeling that he was the great man from on high. He was like a very tender big brother.''
Kurt Vonnegut once observed, ''When I start to read John Leonard, it is as though I, while simply looking for the men's room, blundered into a lecture by the smartest man who ever lived.''