Tom Lea photo

Tom Lea

Lea was the son and namesake of the city's mayor. In the early days of World War II, he became a war correspondent for Life magazine, executing paintings of action in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific, China, North Africa, and Europe. Lea's career thereafter involved both painting and writing, on a variety of subjects but generally reflective of his roots in the Southwest.


“The strange thing about breeding bulls is that you never know how successful you have been until a few minutes before your bull dies. The man who has bred a brave bull has bred a quality without measure, a spirit, that may be tested only in the destruction of it.”
Tom Lea
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