Parker J. Palmer is a writer, speaker, activist, and founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His wisdom has reached millions worldwide through his ten books, including the best-selling Healing the Heart of Democracy, Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, and A Hidden Wholeness. His latest bestseller is On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old (2018). Parker holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and 13 honorary doctorates. The Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 educators, named him one of the 30 “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the 10 key “agenda-setters” of the past decade. In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, and Paolo Freire.  For twenty years, the Accrediting Commission for Graduate Medical Education has given annual Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” and “Courage to Lead” Awards to directors of exemplary medical residency programs. Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer, was published in 2005. A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), Dr. Palmer and his wife, Sharon L. Palmer, live in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Further Reading and Exploration

• Books by Parker J. Palmer 
• To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey by Parker Palmer
• Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer
• The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity, and Caring by Parker Palmer
• A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life by Parker Palmer
• The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life by Parker Palmer
• The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life by Parker Palmer 
• The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal by Parker Palmer
• Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer
• The Courage to Teach Guide to Reflection and Renewal by Parker Palmer
• On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old by Parker Palmer
• Parker’s Facebook Page 
• The Growing Edge Podcast with Parker Palmer and Carrie Newcomer
• Howard Thurman 
• Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet by Gregory C. Ellison II 
• Breathe for Change 
• The Book of Delights by Ross Gay