Interviews

MEN OF VALUE INTERVIEW : MICHAEL LEPPERT By James Riordan

Michael Leppert is a great example of someone whose values have shaped every aspect of his life. His strong priority toward family directly led to his success, when he and his wife Mary began homeschooling their son, Lennon. “My son was born in 1987 and my wife and I chose for her to quit her job and stay at home with him. She nursed him and we practiced the family bed, so we were all together at night. We read aloud to him every night and spent a great deal of time with him one-on-one. He sat with me at the piano and listened to my music as well as regular music on record and radio. As time passed, this close relationship was so satisfying to us that we began to teach him how to read and we talked with him a great deal. We chose to homeschool him, because I had a very negative experience in Catholic schools, but I agreed with the Catholic academic approach and my wife agreed with me and we wanted to avoid having him exposed to the negatives of being around whomever the school decided he would be around. We view this as having insulated him from society in general, rather than isolating him. As we became more immersed in homeschooling, we found that the majority of the Founders of the United States were homeschooled. Colleges in the Colonial Period did not accept prospective students who did not already have the basic academic skills and these were taught by the parents and then, by a tutor hired by the parents, if necessary. My wife started a homeschool newspaper publishing business and ultimately, I quit my regular job and came home to work on the newspaper. My wife had been teaching him academics for the majority of the time, but when I began staying home, I also then began to teach our 8-year-old son.”

ML2LinkSuccess is often about recognizing a need and then creating something o fulfill that need. Through homeschooling their son the Lepperts realized that, at that time, there were not many ways for people who wanted to homeschool their children to connect or to learn about products and services which could help them in their efforts. By starting  The Link, the Lepperts gave homeschoolers a way to connect and share their ideas and also provided an avenue for products geared to assisting homeschoolers to be advertised. Each year The Link grew in subscribers and advertising revenue until it became the most successful homeschooling publication in the United States. The Lepperts expanded their vision into holding conferences around the country and that too was a success. And it all came from trying to live out their values in a time when many have forsaken them. “I am a firm believer that each family is its own sovereign unit—a little country within the larger country,” Leppert says, “and the culture of a family should be a combination of the cultures of each parent—not from the society at large. I also believe that all parents should raise their children themselves and homeschool them as much as possible. Humans are mammals and mammals raise their young until they are ready to live independently of the parents. That is the nature of humans and families should live in that way. Parents should be the teachers of brushing teeth, tying shoes, eating with utensils and then, reading, writing, mathematics, etc. It is a natural progression.”

Leppert is also a very accomplished musician and  composer and has had many songs published and recorded. Last year he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from his native Kankakee Area Music Awards. He currently live in the Los Angeles Area where he and his wife began their homeschooling newspaper and raised their family. He believes that it is important to teach independence to children as well. “George Washington had a difficult time getting the Continental soldiers to maintain orderly discipline because they were all self-employed and not used to taking orders from others. That is the basic atmosphere of homeschooling—our children grow up not getting into line, not simply blindly obeying the commands of others, and that is how we parents intend it to be. Our children can work well with others, because they have a fundamental respect for others and themselves.”

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Leppert in his rock n’ roll days
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Leppert playing a Sitar

Leppert defines freedom as follows: “I define freedom as being responsible for my actions and their effect on others and myself. I do not want to encroach on the rights of others, nor do I want others to encroach upon my rights. I do not need a government to tell me what to do. I have faith that others can self-govern successfully as well.”

Many people who try to live by a certain set of values often find themselves hindered by modern society which emphasize compromise. “I am not certain how my values have limited me in life choices,” Leppert notes. “A few years ago, I could have answered that I was not selfish enough, commercially, to achieve some of the goals I had then. Now, I feel that I am exactly where the Lord intends for me to be; that every step was leading to this point in time and that I am fulfilling my purpose on earth, so my values have made this possible, not limited me.”

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Leppert is an avid hockey player

Like many Christians, Leppert looks to Jesus Christ for “inspiration, patience, insight, love and courage. I also look to the lives of the apostles for their obedience and courage. I read C.S. Lewis and hope to gain from his writing some of his amazing ability to reason and communicate his way of thinking to others clearly, and teaching them to do likewise. I read books written by Michael Berg and his father, under the umbrella of the Kabbalah. These books have given me a great deal of insight and usefulness in overcoming my shortcomings and faults, with a Godly viewpoint. These are other men whose lives have inspired me, like the aforementioned George Washington. He was amazing for his faith over the 6-year Revolutionary War, against insurmountable numbers, a lack of money, arms, food, clothing . . . virtually everything necessary to win, and yet his faith in God carried him through these massive tests to ultimate victory.  I also have friends who are believers and we talk at various times about issues we confront as Christians and I feel that I have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I believe that all Christians who desire to be guided by the Spirit, and listen to the guidance, will have it.”

Leppert shares the belief of many Godly people that our nation has been “sinking deeper into darkness. The main problem is that Americans are much too herd-minded and not independent people. The Founding generation were self-reliant and self-governing, independent thinkers and doers. That is how they were able to create the United States. They were beings of Light. Shortly after that generation died, the forces of darkness once again encroach-ed on the atmosphere of grace the Founders had created. That darkness has grown since then—the 1840s to now. If the majority of families were like mine and the other homeschooling families I have known personally, the nation would be growing in Light and liberty; independent thinking and self-governing. This herd-minded situation is the problem and not being herd-minded is the solution. I don’t expect that to happen, because those who are concerned about the good opinions of others are not going  to suddenly become self-governing and independent thinkers and doers. Of course, if God chose to infuse the country with His Grace, anything that is good can happen. Without such a mass miracle, the best thing families can do is be as independent as possible and stay under the radar of society. Evil and darkness permeate all aspects of life, but individuals and families can stay away from the evil by keeping to them-selves and maintaining the Light in their lives, and quietly disagree with the status quo.”

Michael Leppert is a person worth listening to as he has based his life on his values—a true man of value.

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The Author

Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

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