Religious Studies Scholar Leonard Norman Primiano

I’m Thinking a Lot About the Slender Man Urban Legend These Days

Leonard Norman Primiano is chair of the religious studies department at Cabrini University in Pennsylvania, a fellow of the American Folklore Society, and the series editor of A Cultural History of Religion. Primiano joined the Zócalo/Getty “Open Art” panel discussion “How Do We Depict Religious Experiences?” at the Getty Center. He talked in the Zócalo green room about Renaissance Rome, contemporary folklore, and the Virgin Mary’s husband.

Q:

Favorite saint?


A:

St. Joseph. You know, Mary’s husband.


Q:

Best advice you ever got?


A:

To do exactly what I wanted to do for a job, without worrying about the money.


Q:

Favorite TV show?


A:

True Blood.


Q:

If you could visit any historical period for a week, where would you go?


A:

To the Renaissance, I’d like to walk the churches of Rome, and see how people worshipped.


Q:

What is the most common form of contemporary folklore in American life?


A:

The urban legend. I’m thinking a lot about the Slender Man myth these days.


Q:

Favorite dessert?


A:

The green tea and coconut milk custard at Souen, the macrobiotic restaurant in New York.


*Photo by Jake Fabricius.