George Burr Leonard (August 9, 1923 – January 6, 2010) was an American writer, editor, and educator who wrote extensively about education and human potential. He served as President Emeritus of the Esalen Institute, past-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology,[1] co-founder of Integral Transformative Practice International,[2] and a writer and editor at Look Magazine (1953 - 1970).[3] He was a United States Army Air Corps pilot, and held a fifth-degree black belt in aikido.[2] Typical of his philosophy, life's work, and the times (1960s), Leonard stated: "Western civilization has been a 2,000 year long exercise in robbing people of the present. People are now learning the powerful joys that hide in the narrow place of the hourglass, the eternal moment. Here is their golden learning: to see - really see - spring flowers; to feel - really feel - the grace of love."[need quotation to verify]
George Burr Leonard | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 9, 1923 |
| Died | January 6, 2010 (aged 86) Mill Valley, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina |
| Occupations | teacher, writer |
| Years active | 1953–2010 |
| Known for | Human Potential Movement, Integral Transformative Practice, Aikido |
| Spouse | Annie Styron Leonard |
Leonard co-founded the Aikido of Tamalpais dojo, originally in Mill Valley, later in Corte Madera, California. He also developed the Leonard Energy Training (LET) practice for centering mind, body, and spirit.[4] Leonard died at his home in Mill Valley, California on January 6, 2010, after a long illness. He was 86 years old.[5]
Early life
editBorn in Macon, Ga. with a grandfather who was a State senator who owned black tenant farms, he witnessed the attempted mob lynching of a black rape suspect. After service as a combat pilot in World War II and the Korean War, he then joined the staff of Look in 1953 and was soon reporting on the civil rights movement.[3]
Books
edit- The Decline of the American Male (1958) ASIN B000JWGFBW
- Shoulder the Sky (1959) ASIN B000HLSI5Q
- Education and Ecstasy (1968) ISBN 978-1-55643-005-3
- The Man & Woman Thing, and Other Provocations (1970) ASIN B0006DY0R0
- The Transformation: a guide to the inevitable changes in humankind (1972) ISBN 978-0-87477-169-5
- The Silent Pulse: a search for the perfect rhythm that exists in each of us (1978, 1986) ISBN 978-1-4236-0122-7
- The End of Sex (1983) ISBN 978-0-09-152830-0
- Walking on the Edge of the World (1988) ISBN 978-0-395-48311-4
- Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment (1992) ISBN 978-0-452-26756-5
- The Life We Are Given (1995) ISBN 978-0-87477-853-3
- The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei (2000) ISBN 978-0-452-27972-8
- The Ultimate Athlete (1977, 2001) ISBN 978-1-55643-349-8
References
edit- ↑ "AHP Past Presidents". Association for Humanistic Psychology – AHP. Archived from the original on 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2025-12-27. Alt URL
- 1 2 "Leonard's ITP Page" Archived 2010-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 Woo, Elaine (2010-01-17). "George B. Leonard dies at 86; journalist a seminal figure in the human potential movement". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-27.
- ↑ Stone, J., Meyer R. Aikido in America, Frog Books (1995) ISBN 978-1-883319-27-4 p. 215, 240
- ↑ Jones, Carolyn (January 7, 2010) "Human potential pioneer George Leonard dies", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 10, 2012.