On Leon Parker

A Statement Concerning Sidney E. Parker Archives and Leon Parker.

In 2016, after learning of the death of Sidney E. Parker (1929-2012), I began working on saving, reproducing, and promoting the author’s work. I have obtained a great deal of rare material from various sources. I am in legal possession of all items in the  Sidney E. Parker Archives, regardless of the source. Through the course of this ongoing project, I have communicated with many individuals around the world. Pertinent to this statement, I have communicated directly with his son Leon Parker and his granddaughter Natoya. 

It was during that time that I learned more about the family life of Mr. Parker. How he purposefully abandoned his child to the care of the state, and his wife Pat’s life-long struggles with mental disorders. More and more I would learn of the devastating impact that it would have on Leon, and how that would in turn affect Natoya.

I state, without equivocation, that I believe Sidney E. Parker was a terrible father to his only child. A child he never wanted and ultimately abandoned, with seemingly little compunction, to the care of a system he had spent his philosophical and political life railing against. While letters would be exchanged between parents and child, they would largely be estranged from one another for their lives. In early communication with me, Leon stated that he had not had any contact with his mother or father for 38 years. I encourage the study of the life and work of Sidney E. Parker as a thinker. As a man, I can yet make no further public assessment of him.

In September of 2016 I was informed by Leon Parker that Pat was being moved to an assisted living facility. I arranged to have two associates go to Sidney and Pat’s former home and help rescue all worthwhile materials with Leon. I was told that anything not saved that day would be destroyed by the Housing Council. Leon assured me that he would see to it that I received the saved materials for my archive pertaining to the history of Egoism. 

Leon assured me, on several occasions during the process, that the materials we saved were rightfully his daughter Natoya’s legacy, and she was the sole person to determine what was done with them. After the papers and letters were rescued, Leon decided that he wanted to work on the material himself before sending it to me. I was displeased, but I tried to continue to support the preservation of S.E. Parker’s work.

Through the course of the preservation work, I began to receive erratic emails from Leon from time-to-time, but I did my best to work from afar, expanding the website I established and not being dragged into Leon’s personal issues. After receiving a threatening message from Leon Parker, I ceased communication with him.

In 2017 I learned that Leon had, once again, committed a sex crime with a minor. He was formally charged and arrested. Natoya and I waited to hear what his sentence was. In March 2018 I contacted Natoya and learned that Leon was indeed convicted of this sex crime against minors and would be going to prison. Further, in 5 days she would be going to Leon’s “flat” to retrieve some of Leon’s items before the dwelling was cleared out by the local Housing Council. Once more, the work of S.E. Parker was in danger of being destroyed due to abandonment.

After working out details with Natoya, I booked a flight to a hotel in London. The morning of the second “rescue” I met with many of Leon’s former co-workers who were there to rescue his record collection and other items of value. Everyone present seemed to know who I was and what I was doing there. We spoke plainly about my rescuing the material and Sid’s life and ideas. I finally met Natoya for the first time that day, and there was no sign that my presence or actions were unknown or unwelcome. The opposite was clearly true. And so, I arranged, at further personal expense, to have all the material carefully packed and shipped to my home in the United States, where I have been slowly working on both archiving and reproducing it.

Throughout this entire process, I have only been above-board, direct, and open with everyone involved in creating and expanding the Sidney E. Parker Archives. I have had no reason to act otherwise. I have written at great length about all of the above in an essay published in the Winter 2018 issue of Der Geist, a journal I co-edit. I would recommend anyone interested refer to that 16-page essay. 

I am in legal possession of all items in the S.E. Parker Archives and believe that entrusting any of it to Leon’s care would ensure its inevitable loss. My work on the Sidney E. Parker Archives has the full support of Natoya, Sidney E. Parker’s granddaughter and heir to his work.

In addition to ending direct communication with Leon Parker, I decided not to make any public statements about the personal harassment, but over the last day I have been contacted by friends and associates informing me that they are now receiving disconcerting and accusatory messages on their social media accounts. In light of this information, and Leon’s subsequent revisionism of the facts, I felt it was time to publicly address this situation. I remain in contact with Natoya and will take any necessary steps to ensure that the archive and legacy of Sidney E. Parker is properly preserved, propagated and promoted.

Kevin I. Slaughter
Archivist, sidparker.com
December 19th, 2021