Posted on 09/26/2005 10:31:24 PM PDT by lunarbicep
LOS ANGELES - Author M. Scott Peck, who wrote the best-seller "The Road Less Traveled" and other novels, has died. He was 69.
Peck died Sunday at his home in Connecticut, longtime friend and Los Angeles publicist Michael Levine said. He had suffered from pancreatic and liver duct cancer.
Born in New York City, Peck received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1958 and his doctorate from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1963. He served in the U.S. Army between 1963 and 1972.
Peck spent more than 10 years in the private practice of psychiatry and had his first book "The Road Less Traveled" published in 1978. The self-help book that begins, "Life is difficult," has sold more than 6 million copies in North America and been translated into 20 languages. By the mid-1990s, the book had made 258 appearances on The New York Times best-seller list.
Other books he wrote included "People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil," "Meditations From the Road," and "Further Along the Road Less Traveled."
Peck was the recipient of the 1984 Kaleidscope Award for Peacemaking and the 1994 Temple International Peace Prize. He also received The Learning, Faith and Freedom Medal from Georgetown University in 1996.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Kline Yates Peck; his daughter, Belinda; his son, Christopher; and two grandchildren.
His book, 'The Road Less Traveled' affected many lives, including mine!
May he rest in peace.
"Life is difficult, and once you accept that it's difficult, it becomes less difficult."
This was extremely helpful to me. Sad to see such a great man move on, but I'm sure he's in a much better place. A place of no more difficulties.
I read that book and I found that the section on delaying one's gratification to be profound.
[Continuation of comment on "People of the Lie".]
Basically, those on the left keep asking the question: "What did we do to the Muslims to make them hate us so?"; i.e., why can't we just get along?
This comes from an inability to admit that certain tenets held by some Muslims are EVIL!
Pancreatic cancer has the highest fatality rate of all cancers.
Thanks for that excerpt. It made me go read the 'Inside the Book' on Amazon. I'm picking up a copy tomorrow.
Peck was a profound guy!
Enjoy! Peck will be a good friend.
If you like Peck, and you haven't already, check out some of C.S. Lewis' books. A great English writer who loved Tolkein's writings.
Also, I read that the agent who played the male lead in "Get Smart" just passed away -- Don Smart?
Even a touch of pancreatitis hurts real bad. Die of pancreatic cancer, whew.
Hmm. Life is fatal. No brilliant medical student will ever change the mortality rate. It will remain 100%.
I bought and read both "The Road Less Travelled" and "People of the Lie" 15 years ago, and have re-read them several times.
Important books. Sad to hear the author has passed on.
His books should be required reading on today's college campuses. They might help straighten a lot of these self-absorbed gimme-gimme types out.
"Life is difficult, and once you accept that it's difficult, it becomes less difficult."
This was a turning point in my life, and I use it to help others in their lives.
POTL was a wonderful and eye opening book.
POTL was extremely helpful to me a number of years ago, when I kept thinking it was MY fault that I simply couldn't get along with or trust certain folks. The book gives one confidence in one's instincts...
I attended a seminar led by Scott Peck, and found him to be wonderfully human, as well as dynamic. His loss is a sad thing.
"Life is difficult, and once you accept that it's difficult, it becomes less difficult."
This was a turning point in my life, and I use it to help others in their lives.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.