M.
Scott Peck was born on May 22, 1936 in New York City, the younger
of two sons to David Warner Peck, a prominent lawyer and jurist,
and his wife Elizabeth Saville. He married Lily Ho in 1959,
and they have three grown children.
Peck received his B.A. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College
in 1958, and his M.D. degree from the Case Western Reserve
University School of Medicine in 1963. From 1963 until 1972,
he served in the United States Army, resigning from the position
of Assistant Chief Psychiatry and Neurology Consultant to the
Surgeon General of the Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
and the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster.
From 1972 to 1983, Peck was engaged in the private practice of
psychiatry in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
On March 9, 1980 at the age of 43, Peck was nondenominationally
baptized by a Methodist minister in an Episcopalian convent (where
he has frequently gone on retreat).
Peck's first book, The Road Less Traveled, was published by
Simon & Schuster in 1978. The book has sold over six million
copies to date in North America alone, and has been translated
into over 20 languages.
Peck is a
nationally recognized authority on the relationship between
religion and science, and the science of psychology in particular.
In 1992 Dr. Peck was selected by the American Psychiatric
Association as a distinguished psychiatrist lecturer "for his
outstanding achievement in the field of psychiatry as an educator,
researcher and clinician."
Peck, although now "semi-retired," still does some
management consulting to top management of organizations in the
public, private, and non profit sectors, as well as occasional
writing and editing.
In 1984, Peck and his wife met with nine others to establish The
Foundation for Community Encouragement, a tax-exempt, nonprofit,
public educational foundation, whose mission is to promote and
teach the principles of Community. The Foundation (FCE) has
seventy selected and trained leaders who conduct workshops for the
general public and for organizations as diverse as churches,
schools, government agencies, prisons, universities and businesses
- throughout the world. Although now both retired from FCE's Board
of Directors, the Pecks continue to serve FCE in an
"elder" status which represents the rare privilege of
being able to give advice without having any responsibility.
As a result of his pioneering community building work, Dr. Peck is
the recipient of the 1984 Kaleidoscope Award for Peacemaking and
the 1994 Temple International Peace Prize. In 1996 he was also
recipient of The Learning, Faith and Freedom Medal from Georgetown
University.
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Life is difficult. This is a great
truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth
because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult--once
we truly
understand and accept it-- then life is no longer
difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that
life is
difficult no longer matters.
M.
Scott Peck |
