John E. Mack

Esteemed professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Pulitzer Prize-winning author John E. Mack M.D. (October 4, 1929 - Sep 27, 2004) spent his career examining how a sense of connection develops across cultures and between individuals, and how these connections alter people's worldviews.

His best known book on this theme, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1977, is A Prince of Our Disorder, a biography of British officer T. E. Lawrence (who became known as ''Lawrence of Arabia''). He also interviewed political leaders and citizens of the Soviet Union and Israel/Palestine in the study of ethno-national conflict and the Cold War.

His interest in different worldviews was not limited to the terrestrial; for more than ten years he studied people who reported a connection existed between themselves and ''aliens''. Two books detailed how these ''alien encounters'' had affected the way people regarded the world - including heightening their sense of spirituality and their environmental concern. These were widely reported in the media as a simple endorsement of the reality of alien encounters, and he endured an inquiry by Harvard to determine whether this research met the standards of a Harvard professor. (The medical school ultimately ''reaffirmed Dr. Mack's academic freedom to study what he wishes and to state his opinions without impediment.'')

Mack's interest in the transformational aspects of extraordinary experiences corresponded to his own belief that the Western world requires a shift away from a primarily materialist worldview. This worldview, he suggested in his many writings, was the root cause of the Cold War, regional conflict, and the global ecological crisis. He advocated a shift towards a transpersonal worldview that embraced some elements of Eastern spiritual and philosophical traditions which emphasized a sense of ''connection''; Mack believed such a shift could alter the path of the world towards a more sustainable future.

Mack passed away at the age of 74 in London, England.