George Burr Leonard (August 9, 1923 – January 6, 2010) was an American writer, editor, and educator who wrote extensively about

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and human potential. He served as President Emeritus of the

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American Retreat (spiritual), retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanism, humanistic alternative education. The institute played a ke ...

, past-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, co-founder of Integral Transformative Practice International,"Leonard's ITP Page"
and an editor of ''Look Magazine''. He was a

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

pilot, and held a fifth-degree black belt in

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

. 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." 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 The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...

, and spirit. Leonard died at his home in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

on January 6, 2010, after a long illness. He was 86 years old. Jones, Carolyn (January 7, 2010
"Human potential pioneer George Leonard dies"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

Books

*''The Decline of the American Male'' (1958) ASIN B000JWGFBW *''Shoulder the Sky'' (1959) ASIN B000HLSI5Q *''Education and Ecstasy'' (1968) *''The Man & Woman Thing, and Other Provocations'' (1970) ASIN B0006DY0R0 *''The Transformation'' (1972) *''The Silent Pulse'' (1978) *''The End of Sex'' (1983) *''Walking on the Edge of the World'' (1988) *''Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment'' (1992) *''The Life We Are Given'' (1995) *''The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei'' (2000) *''The Ultimate Athlete'' (2001)

References

External links

Article
in the Encyclopedia of Aikido
Aikido of TamalpaisThe Samurai Game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, George 1923 births 2010 deaths American aikidoka American magazine publishers (people) Martial arts writers American motivational writers Integral theory United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots People from Mill Valley, California Sportswriters from California Military personnel from California