Peter McWilliams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Peter Alexander McWilliams (1949-08-05)August 5, 1949 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 2000(2000-06-14) (aged 50) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, poet,self-publisher, photographer, activist |
Peter Alexander McWilliams (August 5, 1949 – June 14, 2000)[1] was an American self-help author and advocate for the legalization ofmarijuana.[1][2]
McWilliams was born to aRoman Catholic family in Detroit, one of two sons of Henry G. and Mary (née Toarmina; later Fadden) McWilliams. His father worked as a supervisor at a drugstore and his mother was a part-time salesperson.
He attendedAllen Park High School andEastern Michigan University and later enrolled atMaharishi International University. At the age of 17 he wrote a collection of poems calledCome Love with Me and Be My Life, which he self-published under the name Versemonger Press.[1]
McWilliams wrote, edited, directed, and produced the 1971 religious satire filmThe Thorn, starring John Hassberger and Bette Midler.
McWilliams wroteTheTM Book in 1975 with Denise Denniston, which was at the top of theNew York Times bestseller list for three weeks.[3]
In 1976, he wroteTM: An Alphabetical Guide to theTranscendental Meditation Program with Denniston andNat Goldhaber.[4]
He wroteTM withHarold H. Bloomfield, and later co-wrote the bookHow to Heal Depression.[3]
McWilliams was active inErhard Seminars Training withWerner Erhard and Stuart Emory's "Actualizations"large-group awareness training before meetingJohn-Roger in the fall of 1978.[citation needed]
He wrote nearly 40 books[1] includingSurviving the Loss of a Love (1971),The Personal Computer Book (1982) andLife 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About Life in School but Didn't (1990). His 1982 book,The Word Processing Book: A Short Course in Computer Literacy, was published during the "computer revolution" and was "highly successful."[1] McWilliams was a photographer, and a collection of his own photographs were published in October 1992 in a book titledPortraits – A Book of Photographs by Peter McWilliams.
McWilliams was arrested and charged with growing marijuana in 1997.[5][2] He was released from custody on $250,000 bail and with the "condition that he not use marijuana."[5] His bookAin't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Society, published in 1993, made a case for the legalization of drugs and became a favored publication of theLibertarian Party.[1]Life 101 and subsequent books list John-Roger (Roger Delano Hinkins), the leader of the Church of theMovement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, as his co-writer. McWilliams later repudiated the movement, claiming to be the sole author of the books.[6]
McWilliams was diagnosed withnon-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1996.[1][2] He died on June 14, 2000, in his Los Angeles home, ofAIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was survived by his mother and brother, Michael McWilliams.[1][2] At the time he was awaiting sentencing for his conviction of conspiring to "possess, manufacture and sell marijuana."[5]
Cannabis activistRichard Cowan and other critics of the drug policies in the United States have described his death as murder by the U.S. government, insofar as they denied him the use of themedical marijuana which might have prevented his death.William F. Buckley stated that McWilliams was vomiting and in pain when he died.[7]
He is entombed at theWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California.
