Marion Derby (later Marian Wisberg and also known as Marion Mountain) (March 12, 1923 - May 15, 2013[1][2]) was an author, artist, and zen student of Shunryū Suzuki.
Derby was a puppeteer at one point, working with Frank Oz at the Children's Fairyland Puppet Fair hosted by the San Francisco Puppeteers Guild of America.[3]
Derby was the head of the Los Altos Zen group (which later evolved into the Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center[4]) where Shunryū Suzuki often taught.[5] Derby was responsible for putting together the first draft of Shunryū Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.[4][6] Derby's father was driving Suzuki from Los Altos to San Francisco and he inquired about Suzuki's ambition wherein Suzuki replied "I'd like to write a book."[6] After hearing about this conversation from her father, Derby approached Suzuki about taping his lectures and transcribing them.[6] Suzuki later suggested she give the manuscript to Richard Baker who then further refined it with the help of Trudy Dixon.[7]
Under the name Marian Mountain, Derby authored her own book on Zen entitled The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation.[8] She was working on a follow-up book entitled Snail Zen when she died.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Marian Wisberg". Tributes.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ "Fran Thompson's message about Marian's death". Cuke.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ "Marian Derby's Puppetry Days". Cindy Derby. January 15, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ^ a b "History 1964 – 2010". Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ Suzuki, Shunryū; Weitsman, Mel; Wenger, Michael (1999). Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai. University of California Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780520219823.
- ^ a b c Suzuki, Shunryū (2011). Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Shambhala Publications. p. 144. ISBN 978-159030849-3.
- ^ Suzuki, Shunryū (2011). Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Shambhala Publications. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-159030849-3.
- ^ "The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation". Kirkus Reviews. February 9, 1981. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ^ Thompson, Fran. "My friendship with Marian Derby Wisberg". Cuke.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
External links
edit- Marian (Derby, Mountain) Wisberg (rip) at David Chadwick's website