Jenny Phillips (1942 – July 9, 2018) was an American documentary filmmaker. She directed many films, including ''

The Dhamma Brothers ''The Dhamma Brothers'' is a documentary film released in 2007 about a prison meditation program at Donaldson Correctional Facility near Bessemer, Alabama. The film features four inmates, all convicted of murder, and includes interviews with g ...

'' and ''Beyond the Wall''. She drowned in Wauwinet, Massachusetts on July 9, 2018, age 76.

Career

Phillips had a doctorate in anthropology and two master's degrees from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

. She had been a family therapist for over 25 years. She also worked with male prisoners. Phillips taught inmates Vipassanā Meditation and emotional literacy.

Hemingway letters

During a 2001 trip to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, Phillips asked to see letters between

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

and her grandfather,

Maxwell Perkins William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe. Early life and ...

, Hemingway's editor and friend. Both Phillips and her husband worked to make the Hemingway documents available to the public. A digital collection of Hemingway's documents were eventually brought to the JFK Library in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Due to her efforts to make the letters public, she eventually met

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2 ...

Personal life

Phillips married her husband, Frank, on December 18, 1966. They had met each other during an orientation for a college overseas program in 1964. They had lost touch with each other until they reconnected during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They had two children, Polly Phillips Gilbert and Maxwell Perkins Phillips, and two grandchildren. The Phillips' were residents of

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

for almost 50 years.

Death

Phillips, her husband, and a friend were sailing in Nantucket on July 9, 2018, when she decided to swim the quarter-mile or so back to shore. As she was a strong swimmer, Jenny often leaped into the waves on the way home, but this time she apparently drowned and was found later along the shore of the island's Wauwinet area.

References

External links

TEDx talk about prisoners and meditationtwitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jenny 1942 births 2018 deaths People from Concord, Massachusetts American documentary filmmakers Deaths by drowning in the United States