Forby Leonard Skinner[1] (January 11, 1933 – September 20, 2010) was an American high school gym teacher, basketball coach, and businessman from Jacksonville, Florida.

Several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns, were students at Robert E. Lee in the 1960s.

[3][4] Over time, Burns, Rossington, and other band members developed a series of running in-jokes about Skinner and ultimately decided to pay "tongue-in-cheek homage" to him by renaming themselves "Lynyrd Skynyrd".

As a way of getting back, they named the band for Skinner, changing the vowels to avoid a lawsuit and becoming famous enough to make the story a rock legend.

He worked in the real estate business during the 1970s, and in 1975, he allowed the band to use a photo of his "Leonard Skinner Realty" sign for the inside of their third album, Nuthin' Fancy.

[2] In January 2009, the people of Jacksonville held an event called "A Tribute to Coach Leonard Skinner & Southern Rock" at the National Guard Armory.

At the time, the Jacksonville newspaper wrote, "He was just a regular Westside guy, a coach and businessman with a strong code of honor, a disciplinarian at home and at school.

"[3] The Florida Times-Union called him "the no-nonsense, flattopped basketball coach and gym teacher whose name is forever linked with Jacksonville's legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd.