Radio legend Roy Leonard’s estate sale: 1,000 books, CDs

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ROY LEONARD

Updated: November 11, 2011 5:16PM

An institution is having an estate sale.

WGN broadcasting legend Roy Leonard is downsizing because he and his wife recently moved into The Mather retirement community in Evanston.

The sale, featuring about 1,000 books that Leonard read over the years to prepare for his interviews with authors and celebrities, begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at his former home at 412 Cumnor Road, Kenilworth.

“I did a lot of interviews, so I’ve got an awful lot of books,” Leonard said.

He joked about the difficulty of downsizing from the house where he and Sheila Leonard lived for 43 years and raised six boys. “I’m going to be 81 in January, and yet I’ve got my health, I can still walk the dog,” he said. “I can still unpack books and CDs, which I think I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.”

The estate sale will feature about 500 CDs — most of them jazz — as well as furniture, theater memorabilia and the books. “There’s a number of really good, signed first editions, everything from Pearl Bailey to Ingrid Bergman to Steve Allen,” said Walter Chruscinski of New Trier Sales.

During 31 years at WGN-AM (720), Leonard was a respected talk show host and authority on the arts and pop culture. He retired from radio in 1998. Leonard also did movie reviews and other reports for WGN-Channel 9 newscasts and hosted the station’s “Family Classics” movie series.

Sheila Leonard, who suffered complications from a fall, is unable to walk up and down stairs and is on the assisted living floor of The Mather, but should be joining Leonard in their new suite soon, he said.

Leonard had been blogging at www.royleonard.com, but signed off last April, saying he and his wife were battling health problems. He had to undergo surgery and therapy after tearing two tendons in his hand while playing with his 120-lb Newfoundland dog, Guinness.

“I hope after we get settled to maybe go back to the blog, and maybe once a week or once every other week, that we have something to say,” Leonard said.

The sale will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. To see photos or more information, check http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/219858.aspx