Will Landon Photographs, approximately 1960s - 2000s

Will Landon (November 26, 1928 - March 15, 2019) was born in Bangkok, Thailand. He was the son of Presbyterian missionaries, Kenneth and Margaret Landon. The family moved to the US just before the start of World War II. It was then that his mother read a memoir by Anna Leonowens "The English Governess at the Siamese Court." This inspired her to write the novel "Anna and the King of Siam" which eventually became the musical "The King and I." Landon's father handled American Intelligence in Southeast Asia during the war and worked on the National Security Council afterwards for many years. Landon attended Wheaton College where he met his wife Pat. They married in 1950 and soon after that he was drafted into the army where he became a first lieutenant in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery. After his army service, they moved to Philadelphia where he completed his masters at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Landon then started his career at Boeing. He allocated his vacation times to expeditions to national parks and other places to photograph. He worked with very large panorama cameras some of which he made himself.