Lipton was a pioneer in the field of projected three-dimensional imagery and was one of the creators of the electronic stereoscopic display industry. Lipton on Filmmaking, a compendium of his magazine writings, was published in 1979. The following decade, he wrote two books on technologies and methods for independent filmmakers: Independent Film Making (1972) and The Super 8 Book (1975). The best known, Let a Thousand Parks Bloom, a 27-minute film about Berkeley's People's Park, played at the Tate Liverpool Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In the 1960s, Lipton shot several experimental films on 16 mm stock, most with running times of less than 10 minutes. 'The Puff story is really just a lot like Peter Pan.' Lipton spent decades denying that the song was about marijuana and believed that the myth was created by New York columnist Dorothy Kilgallen. 'Pirates and dragons, back then, were common interests in stories for boys', Lipton said. His inspiration was a 1936 Ogden Nash poem, ' The Tale of Custard the Dragon'. Lipton was 19 when he wrote the poem that was adapted into the lyrics for the 1963 song ' Puff, the Magic Dragon', performed by Peter, Paul and Mary. Lipton urged schools to be more 'accepting of eccentric people with a different point of view because we are the people who make the difference.' Career Puff, the Magic Dragon A self-described 'mediocre student', he only excelled once he found a field he loved. He majored in physics at Cornell University after starting out in electrical engineering. In 2021, he published The Cinema in Flux, an 800-page illustrated book on the history of cinema technology.

His technology is used to show 3D films on more than 30,000 theater screens worldwide. He went on to write books on independent filmmaking and become a pioneer in the field of projected three-dimensional imagery. At age 19, Lipton wrote the poem that became the basis for the lyrics to the song ' Puff, the Magic Dragon'. Leonard Lipton (– October 5, 2022) was an American author, filmmaker, lyricist and inventor. ' Puff, the Magic Dragon', 3D display technology, history of motion picture technology

Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow