With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman

“One of the great religious leaders of [the twentieth] century” tells his story of growing up under segregation and finding his calling as a minister (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Howard Thurman was a singular man—a minister, philosopher, and educator whose vitality and vision touched the lives of countless people of all races, faiths, and cultures.

In his moving autobiography, Dr. Thurman tells of his lonely years growing up in a segregated town, where the nurturing black community and a profound interest in nature provided his deepest solace. That same young man would go on to become one of the great spiritual leaders of our time. Over the course of his extraordinary career, Thurman served as a dean of Rankin Chapel and professor of theology at Howard University; minister of the interdenominational Fellowship Church in San Francisco, of which he was a cofounder; dean of Marsh Chapel of Boston University; and honorary canon of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York. He was deeply engaged in work with the Howard Thurman Educational Trust until his death in 1981. This is Thurman’s story in his own inspiring words.

“Inspiring . . . a tale of trial and triumph. It should be read by everyone.” —Vernon Jordan, president of the National Urban League

“Now we can peer with delight into the soul of this master and grasp some of the sense of religious genius which has been the source of all that blessed teaching.” —Rabbi Joseph B. Glaser, former executive vice president, Central Conference of American Rabbis

“The reader’s admiration for this educator and spiritual healer grows naturally as the story unfolds.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Thurman leads his readers . . . with an air of gracious ease and imperturbable dignity.” —Kirkus Reviews

© 1981 Mariner Books (Ebook): 9780547546780

Release date

Ebook: 14 October 1981