Wayne Dyer

Wayne Dyer, one of the most popular best-selling authors and motivational speakers, and often credited with beginning the self-development movement, spent the first ten years of his life in an orphanage.

He spent those early years in a series of orphanages and foster homes on the East Side of Detroit. The youngest of three boys, each one a year apart, Dyer was abandoned by his father shortly after his birth. His father who was abusive, an alcoholic and did prison time, never paid any support or ever called or visited him. His mother worked as a candy girl for $17 a week, and could not support Dyer and his brothers. When Dyer was ten years old, she regained custody. Looking back, Dyer says he drew much strength from those days.

An avid reader, Dyer recalls that by age 17 he has read 70 books, including Thoreau, whom he credits with helping him to accept himself as a nonconformist. Dyer joined the Navy in 1958 at age 18. In 1962, he began his college studies. He received his doctorate in counseling and psychology from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, and taught at may levels of education from high school through graduate study at St. John's University in New York.

Dyer is the author of 17 books, including three textbooks, and is well remembered for his book, "Your Erroneous Zones", published in 1976 when he was 35, and which was on the "New York Times Bestseller" List for almost a year. He has followed with many top sellers, hundreds of self-motivational tapes, thousands of seminars, including some for heads of state, as well as loyal fans who pack his lectures by the thousands.

Dyer has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, and has been the subject of magazine and newspaper articles. His last book, "Manifest Your Destiny", and his new book, "Wisdom of the Ages", were the subjects of two specials for National Public Television.

Besides his books mentioned above, other top sellers by Dyer include "Your Sacred Self", "A Promise Is A Promise", "Real Magic", "You'll See It When You Believe It", "What Do You Really Want for Your Children", "No More Holiday Blues", "Gifts from Eykis", "The Sky's the Limit", "Pulling Your Own Strings", "Everyday Wisdom" and "Staying on the Path".