Richard M. Eyre (born 1944) is a consultant, speaker, and author of many books. He was also a candidate for the Republican nomination for Utah governor in 1992.

Education

Eyre holds degrees from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

and

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

. His wife, Linda J. Eyre, has a degree from

Publications

The Eyres have written over a dozen books, with several of them becoming bestsellers. These include ''Teaching Your Children Values'', which was the first parenting book to make it to the position of #1 ''New'' ''York'' ''Times'' bestseller since Dr. Spock's book. Eyre's ''Spiritual Serendipity: Cultivating and Celebrating the Art of the Unexpected'' was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in 1997. Other books by Eyre include ''The Discovery of Joy'' (1974), ''Teaching Children Joy'' (1986), ''The Birth We Call Death'' with Paul H. Dunn, ''Life Before Life'' (2000) and ''How to Talk to Your Children About Sex,'' written with Linda. Besides writing these non-fiction works, Eyre has written a novel entitled ''The Awakening''. A more recent book by the Eyres, ''Empty Nesting Parenting: Adjusting Your Stewardship as Your Children Leave Home'', has been recommended as reading for parents of college students. Linda Eyre has also written several books on being a mother on her own or with other female authors. The Eyres have hosted the program ''Families Are Forever'' on the VISN Network. They have nine children, and have lived in both

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Religion

Richard Eyre is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). As a young man, Eyre served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He later served as a

mission president Mission president is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a Mission (LDS Church), mission and the M ...

in the church's

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

London South London South was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward ...

Mission. Baptisms spiked in the mission after the results of an opinion poll on parenthood conducted by Eyre were published in such publications as the ''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

''. Eyre wrote the ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and ar ...

'' article on joy. He also wrote the section on the views of the LDS Church in ''How Different Religions View Death and Afterlife: Second Edition'' edited by Christopher Jay Johnson and Marsha McGee.

Politics

During the Reagan administration, Eyre served as the director of the White House Conference on Parents and Children. Eyre has also been a long-time advocate of schools of choice and voucher programs. He was a candidate for the governorship of Utah with this as one of his major campaign planks in 1992. Eyre won the support of the Republican state convention but lost to Mike Leavitt in the later Republican primary. Eyre has since been a major supporter of vouchers, and was one of the key speakers for the voucher proposition on Utah's 2007 ballot. Linda has also served as a member of the Utah State University board of trustees.

Other

The Eyres also serve as board members of CHOICE humanitarian and have been involved in projects to bring wells to villages in such countries as

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Notes

References

Deseret Book Biography for Richard

Deseret Book bio for LindaSimon&Schuster bio page for Linda

External links

at Meridian Magazine

The Eyre's parenting website

Linda and Richard Eyre: On understanding each other and the LDS Handbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Richard M. 20th-century Mormon missionaries Married couples American Latter Day Saint writers Living people Mission presidents (LDS Church) American Mormon missionaries in the United States Writers from Salt Lake City Utah State University alumni 1944 births American Mormon missionaries in England American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Harvard Business School alumni Brigham Young University alumni