Leonard, George, 1923-2010

George Burr Leonard (August 9, 1923 – January 6, 2010) was an American writer, editor, and educator who wrote extensively about education and human potential. He served as President Emeritus of the Esalen Institute, past-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, co-founder of Integral Transformative Practice International, and an editor of Look Magazine. He was a United States Army Air Corps pilot, and held a fifth-degree black belt in aikido. 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, body, and spirit. Leonard died at his home in Mill Valley, California on January 6, 2010, after a long illness. He was 86 years old.