Samuel McMurray Keen (November 23, 1931 – March 19, 2025) was an American author, academic and philosopher who is best known for his exploration of questions regarding love, life, wonder, religion, and being a male in contemporary society.

Background

Samuel McMurray Keen was born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

on November 23, 1931, and grew up in

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Great Indian Warpath (which was used to build the route U.S. Route 411, US-411) was long ...

, and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree from

Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a campus. Ursinus College's forerunner was the Freeland Seminary founded in 1848. Its $127 million endowment supports about 1, ...

, a doctorate in theology from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, and a PhD in religious philosophy from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He taught briefly at

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, also referred to as Louisville Seminary, is a seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of 12 PC(USA) seminaries and it identifies as an e ...

before moving to California in 1968.

Career

Keen worked as a freelance journalist for some time, and authored several books about spirituality and religion. He co-produced ''Faces of the Enemy'', an award-winning

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary; was the subject of a

Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers; June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Council ...

' television special in the early 1990s; and for 20 years served as a contributing editor at ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...

'' magazine. He was also featured in the 2003 documentary ''

Flight from Death ''Flight from Death'' is a 2003 documentary film that investigates the relationship of human violence to fear of death, as related to subconscious influences. The film describes death anxiety as a possible root cause of many human behaviors on a p ...

''. Keen gained notice for his various

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

books and workshops. In 1991, his book ''Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man'' was published, and was part of a movement which encouraged men to "follow their warrior spirit", as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described it. Keen believed that contemporary society and harmed and constrained men and women, and said that a productive movement could provide the same liberation for men as feminist movements could for women. Later, Keen became interested in the

flying trapeze The flying trapeze is a specific form of the trapeze in which a performer jumps from a platform with the trapeze so that gravity makes the trapeze swing. The performance was invented in 1859 by a Frenchman named Jules Léotard, who connect ...

, and said it could provide psychological benefits in his 1999 book ''Learning to Fly: Trapeze – Reflections on the Fear, Trust, and the Joy of Letting Go''.

Personal life and death

Keen's marriages to Heather Barnes and Janine Lovett ended in divorce; he had two children from his first marriage and one from his second. In 2004, he married Patricia de Jong, who was a former senior minister of

First Congregational Church of Berkeley First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

, in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. They lived on a ranch in

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

. Keen died on March 19, 2025, at the age of 93, while vacationing in

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northw ...

Books

In print

*''Prodigal Father, Wayward Son'' (2015) *''In the Absence of God: Dwelling in the Presence of the Sacred'' (2010) *''Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds'' (Chronicle Books, 2007) *''Learning to Fly: Reflections on Fear, Trust, and the Joy of Letting Go'' (1999) *''To Love and Be Loved'' (Bantam, 1997) *''Hymns to an Unknown God'' (Bantam, 1994) *''Inward Bound: Exploring the Geography of Your Emotions'' (Bantam, 1992) *''Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man'' (Bantam, 1991) *''Your Mythic Journey'' (Tarcher, 1990) *''Faces of the Enemy. Reflections of the Hostile Imagination''. (Harper and Row, San Francisco 1986)

Out of print

*''The Passionate Life'' (Harper and Row) *''Beginnings Without End'' (Harper and Row, 1975) *''To a Dancing God'' (Harper and Row, 1970) *''Apology for Wonder'' (Harper and Row, 1969) *''Gabriel Marcel'' (John Knox Press, 1967)

References

External links

Official site

Famous Quotes By Sam Keen

Sam Keen MP3 audio
- from ''Shift in Action'', sponsored by Institute of Noetic Sciences
Ancients were ahead of their time
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', Paul Sheehan, October 16, 2006.
''Flight From Death'' on Hulu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keen, Sam 1931 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American spiritual writers Harvard Divinity School alumni Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary faculty People from Maryville, Tennessee People from Sonoma, California Princeton University alumni Men's movement in the United States Ursinus College alumni Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Writers from Wilmington, Delaware