They represent the nonconformist and the conformist, I think: the one following his own mind and heart, pursuing his dreams, determined to achieve the goal that he has set for himself, focused to the point of obsession; the other chasing the acclaim of the crowd, popular success, the mass market, turning in the winds of fashion like a dead thing on a stick. —MD 

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. . . . But do your thing, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”

See also:
H&L 762 the differences between Black Jacques Leroy and Fat Hank Leroy
RR 112 They thought of themselves as bohemian, beat, hip, and they were seriously committed to improving the quality of public education. They may even have been passionately committed. All of that seems like a joke to Matthew now. The memory of it makes him feel naive and foolish.
LF 133 two of my ancestors, Black Jacques Leroy and his son Fat Hank Leroy
LF 155 Among beer drinkers, it is sometimes said of Black Jacques that "He invented beer."
LF 155 the legendary Leroy Lager, a sturdy and honest drink, relative only by name to the insipid brew later marketed by his son, John Henry ("Fat Hank") 
LF 214 I wasn't sure then just what it meant to be like Black Jacques or like Fat Hank, and I'm still not sure, because they have turned out to be more complicated than either my great-grandmother or my father presented them 
WDYS 120 Porky had begun working on the character question well before he even had a restaurant, and I was an eager assistant in the effort. He got it into his head that the way to give the place character was to come up with a character who supposedly owned it. I suggested my great-great-grandfather, Black Jacques Leroy
 

A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Portions of A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) were first published by Voyager, Inc., as part of The Complete Peter Leroy (so far).

The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile.