Wayne W. Dyer, an author, lecturer and television personality who rose from what he described as a Dickensian childhood to achieve national celebrity as a guru of the self-help genre, died Aug. 30 in Maui, Hawaii. He was 75.
The cause was apparently a heart attack, said his daughter Serena Dyer Pisoni. Dr. Dyer also had a chronic form of leukemia.
Abandoned at a young age by his father, Dr. Dyer appeared at times the embodiment of self-reliance, self-confidence and other virtues that he espoused. Millions of advice-seekers knew his name — and were acquainted with the recognizable smile beneath his balding crown — from his dozens of mass-market books and his CDs, seminars and frequent television appearances.
He was vaulted to prominence after the publication in 1976 of his book “Your Erroneous Zones: Step-by-Step Advice for Escaping the Trap of Negative Thinking and Taking Control of Your Life.”
Dr. Dyer often reflected on his well-being, or lack thereof, before he wrote the book.
“I was stuck, personally (divorced), physically (overweight and out of shape), spiritually (a pure pragmatist with no thoughts about metaphysics),” he once wrote. As if to demonstrate the techniques that he preached, he personally undertook the promotion of his book — and turned it into a success.
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Dr. Dyer, a former therapist and professor, said he drove from bookstore to bookstore delivering copies for sale on consignment. His efforts did not go to waste. In time, “Your Erroneous Zones” landed on the bestseller list and was translated into numerous languages. The volume and subsequent ones made him a millionaire tens of times over.
In his writings, Dr. Dyer tapped into common anxieties and desires in a style that appealed to large audiences. He called on readers to rid themselves of negative thoughts, practice forgiveness and to focus their energy on the present.
His philosophy drew on Christianity, Buddhism, the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, theories of psychology and psychotherapy, and the motivational techniques of Norman Vincent Peale, the minister who became widely known for his book “The Power of Positive Thinking” (1952).
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To those who suffered misfortune, Dr. Dyer advised, “Understand that all spiritual advances that we make in our lives are preceded by a fall of one kind or another.”
“These low points give you the energy to propel yourself to a higher place,” he told the Toronto Star. “So, instead of saying ‘this shouldn’t be happening,’ practice propelling yourself to that higher place.”
He exhorted his readers and listeners to realize that anything was achievable.
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“For example,” he once told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “let’s say you want to win the lottery. Instead of focusing on the money, focus on the feelings you would have if you won it: Say, ‘I would like to feel the peace of serenity, luck, abundance in my life.’ ”
Share this articleShareMany tenets of Dr. Dyer’s thinking were reflected in the titles of his books, which included “Pulling Your Own Strings” (1978), “You’ll See it When You Believe It” (1989), “Manifest Your Destiny” (1997), and “Excuses Begone!” (2009). His audio CDs included “How to Get What You Really, Really, Really, Really Want,” also featuring Deepak Chopra.
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Television hosts including Johnny Carson, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres invited Dr. Dyer onto their shows. He appeared frequently on pledge-drive programming for public television, as well as on the lecture circuit, where he commanded top dollar. He described himself as “on a mission of some kind” and sometimes drew attention for the commercial success that he achieved while pursuing it.
“I’d probably be more credible with some people if I didn’t charge so much,” he told the Plain Dealer. “But there’s nothing particularly spiritual about poverty. Somehow there’s this notion that you have to be poor to be spiritual. Sometimes I speak for nothing, but being paid for doing something isn’t wrong; it’s a way of exchanging energy between people. I don’t resent the question, but I don’t have a lot of patience explaining what I do with my money.”
And he said he had achieved riches beyond his financial success.
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“I’m on love, on harmony every day,” he told Australia’s Herald Sun. “I have something like a warm shower running inside me every day. I have a fantasy life, especially for someone who came from where I came from.”
Wayne Walter Dyer was born in Detroit on May 5, 1940. He spent part of his childhood in foster care and said he considered his boyhood “a gift.”
“I learned self-reliance,” he told the Herald Sun.
After Navy service, he studied education and psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1965, a master’s degree in 1966 and a PhD in 1970. Before pursuing his work as a writer, he taught at institutions including St. John’s University in New York.
His marriages to Judith Matsura and Susan Casselman ended in divorce.
Dr. Dyer lived in Maui at the time of his death. Survivors include his wife, the former Marcelene Rowan, from whom he was separated; a daughter from his first marriage, Tracy Dyer; five children from his third marriage, Skye Dyer, Sommer Dyer Camp, Serena Dyer Pisoni, Sands Dyer and Saje Dyer; two stepchildren from his third marriage whom he helped raise, Shane Humble and Stephanie Dyer; two brothers; and nine grandchildren.
Dr. Dyer attracted some criticism for offering what his detractors considered overly simple solutions to complex problems. Some readers also found him superficial, a characteristic that he did not regard as a fault. The ultimate retort to such judgments was perhaps his own success.
“I know that these principles work,” he wrote. “Their miraculous power is not based on a belief, it is a knowing.”
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