Clara Lyle Boone

Clara Lyle Boone (September 6, 1927 – June 21, 2015) was an American composer and founder of Arsis Press, which specialized in publishing works by contemporary women composers. She also taught music, and ran for a Congressional seat. Early life and education Boone was born in Stanton, Kentucky, the daughter of Jouett Shelby Boone and Deborah Davida Johnson Boone. Her father was a banker, and her mother was a singer. (Daniel Boone was the brother of one of her Boone ancestors; She studied composition with Walter Piston and Darius Milhaud. Beginning in 1957, she taught at the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C. In 1967, she began teaching fifth graders at Payne Elementary School, a public school in the city. She retired from school work in 1977, but continued to live in the neighborhood of Payne Elementary. She lobbied for arts funding and equal opportunities in the arts, Despite her Washington, D.C. address, she campaigned for the Democratic nomination for a Congressional seat in Kentucky in 1962, saying “I believe Civil Rights should be rooted in principle rather than in politics, and I believe a principle deserves not its name unless it is practiced every day a