Dr. David Schafer, retired Yale professor, scientist, and co-founder and past president of the Humanist Association of Connecticut, said, "For several years, among the talks most consistently popular with our members have been those in Doug Peary's long-running series, "Humanist Heroes." We've talked to a number of people about the reason for this. One reason seems to be the emotional intensity Doug brings to his research on each of his subjects, an intensity that continues to reward him, and us, deeply with each of his subjects with each new biography he touches. These are not just interesting stories from and about the lives of Humanists; they are intimate glimpses of more meaningful insights into living, working, loving, and dying, profoundly inspirational for Doug and his audiences." Rev. Ann Fuller, in September 2011, in her church newsletter, recommended "Humanist Heroes" to her congregation. I thanked her. She responded "My pleasure. I also included it in the required reading for my class at the Humanist Institute for our opening session on Essential Humanism this past December. They really enjoyed the personal stories and thought it was a nice break from the drier philosophical works they had to read. Gave Humanism the human touch"Another Minister who does not want her name used said, "Douglas Peary in his book "Humanist Heroes" has written brief biographies of the lives of seventeen men, ranging from Voltaire and Thomas Paine in the eighteenth century to Steve Allen and Carl Sagan in the twentieth. His subjects include writers and poets, scientists and philosophers, ministers and lawyers, even a television personality! A wonderful aspect of the book is that Peary includes extended pieces of each person's own writings so the reader can get a better feel for each person.There isn't a way to summarize a book as rich in research and story and detail as Peary's. What I can do is suggest in a couple of ways how Peary's stories help bring religious humanism to life. There are many in our culture who assume that there can be no ethics without belief in a God- no foundation for acting morally without a supreme being, and/or no incentive to be moral without the promise of divine reward or punishment."
Douglas Peary was raised as a Conservative Baptist Fundamentalist Christian in Washburn, Maine and raised on a potato farm. His parents where wonderful, loving, people but they were misled by Ministers. Douglas attended Starr King School For Religious Leadership during his 30's. He was ordained as a UU Minister in 1979 and was certified as a Humanist Celebrant in the following year. He became a Federal Labor investigator with the National Labor Relations Board for 30 years. During that time he began to study and write presentations on Humanist Heroes. He also became a founding member of the Humanists of Connecticut in 1989. He was Vice President for many years and has been President. Douglas retired from the Government on 3/31/10. Joyce, the mother of his children died of Cancer in 1996. Their son Brett was a Monbusho Scholar, at Kyoto Universy Kyoto, Japan. Douglas and Joyce's daughter Brita in married to Devin Chambers and they have a son Jayse (similar to Joyce). Douglas married Gabriella, a retired educator in 2008 after over 8 years together.
