Parker Palmer

{{short description|American author, educator, and activist (born 1939)}}

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|02|28}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

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| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list | Carleton College | University of California, Berkeley}}

| occupation = {{hlist | Writer | educator}}

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Parker J. Palmer is an American author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has published ten books and numerous essays and poems, and is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage and Renewal.{{cite web |url=http://www.CourageRenewal.org/ |title=Home |website=CourageRenewal.org}} His work has been recognized with major foundation grants, several national awards, and fourteen honorary doctorates.

Life and career

Palmer was born in Chicago on February 28, 1939, and grew up in Wilmette and Kenilworth, Illinois.{{cite book |year=2008 |editor-last=French |editor-first=Henry F. |title=40-Day Journey with Parker J. Palmer |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |publisher=Augsburg Books |page=17 |isbn=978-1-4514-0957-4}}{{cite web |last=Keefe-Perry |first=L. Callid |title=Parker Palmer |url=http://www.talbot.edu/ce20/educators/protestant/parker_palmer/ |department=Talbot School of Theology |location=La Mirada, California |publisher=Biola University |access-date=July 18, 2018}} He studied philosophy and sociology at Carleton College, where he graduated in 1961 before going on to complete a Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. After moving to the East Coast for a job as a community organizer and a teaching position at Georgetown University, Palmer became involved with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) at Pendle Hill, where he served as dean of studies and writer in residence. Palmer is the founder and senior partner emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal,{{cite web |url= http://www.couragerenewal.org/about/ccr-staff | work = About the Center | title = Staff |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Center for Courage and Renewal}} which oversees the "Courage to Teach" program for K–12 educators across the country and parallel programs for people in other professions, including medicine, law, ministry and philanthropy.

He has published a dozen poems, more than one hundred essays and ten books. Palmer's work has been recognized with fourteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press, and grants from the Danforth Foundation, the Lilly Endowment and the Fetzer Institute. Palmer has been featured on the On Being podcast with Krista Tippet,{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-being-with-krista-tippett/id150892556?mt=2|title=On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios on Apple Podcasts|website=Apple Podcasts|language=en|access-date=2018-05-13}} and regularly contributes to the On Being blog.{{Cite web|url=https://onbeing.org/author/parker-j-palmer/|title=Parker J. Palmer {{!}} The On Being Project|website=onbeing.org|language=en|access-date=2018-05-13}}

Honors and awards

In 1993, Palmer won the national award of the Council of Independent Colleges for Outstanding Contributions to Higher Education.{{cite web |url= http://www.cic.edu/publications/independent/archives/news9904.pdf |last= Orr |first= Douglas M. |title= The Courage to Teach: Reflections on Parker Palmer's Work |work= The Independent |access-date= 2008-03-12 |publisher= Council of Independent Colleges |year= 1999 |quote= In 1993, [Palmer] was the recipient of the CIC Outstanding Service Award and was a speaker at the annual Presidents Institute. |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060908095520/http://www.cic.edu/publications/independent/archives/news9904.pdf |archive-date= 2006-09-08 }}
In 1998, The Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 administrators and faculty, named Palmer as one of the thirty “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the ten key “agenda-setters” of the past decade: “He has inspired a generation of teachers and reformers with evocative visions of community, knowing, and spiritual wholeness.”{{Citation | title = Who's Who: Higher Education's Senior Leadership | newspaper = Change | volume = 30 | number = 1 | pages = 14–18 |date=Jan–Feb 1998}}.
In 2001, the Carleton College Alumni Association gave Palmer a Distinguished Achievement Award.{{cite web|url=http://apps.carleton.edu/alumni/council/awards/2001awards/ |title=2001 Award Recipients |access-date=2008-03-12 |publisher=Carleton College |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106184507/http://apps.carleton.edu/alumni/council/awards/2001awards/ |archive-date=January 6, 2009 }}
In 2002, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education created the “Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award”, given annually to the directors of ten medical residency programs that exemplify patient-centered professionalism in medical education.{{cite web |url= http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/palmerAward/pa_leachMemo.asp |title= Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award |access-date= 2008-03-12 |publisher= Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20060524173412/http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/palmerAward/pa_leachMemo.asp |archive-date= 2006-05-24 }}
In 2003, the American College Personnel Association named Palmer a “Diamond Honoree” for outstanding contributions to the field of student affairs.{{cite web |url= http://www.myacpa.org/res/documents/DiamondHonoreebyALPHAyear.pdf |title= Diamond Honorees: Classes of 1999 to 2005 |access-date= 2008-03-12 |publisher= American College Personnel Association |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717024931/http://www.myacpa.org/res/documents/DiamondHonoreebyALPHAyear.pdf |archive-date= 2011-07-17 }}
In 2005, Sam Intrator (ed.) published Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005).
In 2010, the Religious Education Association (An Association of Professors, Practitioners, and Researchers in Religious Education) presented Palmer with the William Rainey Harper Award, “given to outstanding leaders whose work in other fields has had profound impact upon religious education.” Named after the first president of the University of Chicago, founder of the REA, the award has been given only ten times since its establishment in 1970. Previous recipients include Marshall McLuhan, Elie Wiesel, Margaret Mead and Paulo Freire.{{cite web |url= http://www.religiouseducation.net/ |title= Religious Education Association|access-date= 2010-10-30}}
In 2011, Palmer was named an Utne Reader Visionary, one of "25 people who are changing your world."{{cite web |title=Parker J. Palmer: Wise Guy|url= http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Utne-Reader-Visionaries-Parker-J-Palmer-Center-For-Courage-And-Renewal.aspx | work = Utne Reader |date=November–December 2011|access-date=19 October 2011}}
In 2017, Palmer was given the Shalem Institute’s Contemplative Voices Award, given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to contemplative understanding, living and leadership.{{cn|date= April 2024}}
In 2019, Palmer's book On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old was the gold medalist in the "Aging/Death & Dying” category of the 2019 Independent Book Publisher Book Awards.{{cn|date= April 2024}}

Published works

{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old | publisher = Berrett-Koehler | location = Oakland | date = 2018-06-26 | isbn= 978-1523095438}}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 2011-09-06 | isbn= 978-0-470-59080-5 | author-mask = 3}}
{{cite book | last1 = Palmer | first1 = Parker J | first2 = Arthur | last2 = Zajonc | first3 = Megan | last3 = Scribner | title = The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 2010-07-20 | isbn= 978-0-470-48790-7 | author-mask = 3}}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 2004-09-22 | isbn = 978-0-7879-7100-7 | author-mask = 3 | url = https://archive.org/details/hiddenwholenessj00palm }}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation | url = https://archive.org/details/letyourlifespeak00palm | url-access = registration | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 2000-09-10 | isbn= 978-0-7879-4735-4 | author-mask = 3}}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 2007-08-17 | orig-year = 1997-11-21 | isbn = 978-0-7879-9686-4 | author-mask = 3 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780787996864 }}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity and Caring | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | date = 1999-07-21 | orig-year = 1990 | isbn = 978-0-7879-4934-1 | author-mask = 3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/activelifespirit0000palm }}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America's Public Life | publisher = Crossroad | location = New York | date = 1983-08-25 | isbn = 978-0-8245-0601-8 | author-mask = 3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/companyofstrange00park }}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = To Know As We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey | publisher = HarperOne | location = San Francisco | orig-year = 1981 | date = 1993-05-28 | isbn = 978-0-06-066451-0 | author-mask = 3 | url = https://archive.org/details/toknowaswearekno00palm }}
{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Parker J. | title = The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life | publisher = Jossey-Bass | location = San Francisco | orig-year = 1980 | date = 2008-04-18 | isbn= 978-0-7879-9696-3 | author-mask = 3}}