On the Brink of Everything

Parker J. Palmer was born in 1939 in Chicago. He attended Carleton College where he studied Philosophy and Sociology and graduated in 1961. He then went on to complete his Phd in Sociology at UC Berkeley. After graduation, he took a teaching position at Georgetown University and became involved with the Religious Society of Friends at Pendle Hill. He is the founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage and Renewal which operates the "Courage to Teach" program for K-12 educators across the country.

He has published over one hundred essays and eight books. He has also been recognized with thirteen honorary degrees, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and grants from the Danforth Foundation and the Lilly Endowment. Parker Palmer's title's include: The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life, To Know As We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey, and On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old.

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