James Leonard Park, 1941-

Father: Wilford Edison Park, 1901-1985
Mother: Catherine Edith Leonard Park, 1911-1955

    I was born at a very early age.
I spent the first 8 years of my life
in three towns in Ontario, Canada:
Brownsville, Whitby, & Deep River.
I have no memories of Brownsville or Whitby,
but I do remember Deep River.
Most of my family moved to Minneapolis at the end of 1949.
So I basically grew up in Minneapolis.
I went to Douglas Elementary School for three years (grades 3-6).
Then I went to Jefferson Junior High School (grade 7-9)
And then West High School (grades 10-12).
After high school I went directly to the University of Minnesota.
I began my college career in Electrical Engineering,
but after two years I switched to philosophy,
when I decided to become a minister.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree (philosophy and humanities),
I went on to Union Theological Seminary in New York City,
where I earned a Master of Divinity degree in the normal 3 years.

    For two years after seminary, I was the Methodist Campus Minister
to Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges in Northfield, Minnesota,
while also serving two rural Methodist churches nearby.
Since leaving that post,
I have been living a free-lance life in Minneapolis,
teaching in various adult education programs, writing, & publishing.

    My most popular books include:

New Ways of Loving:
    How Authenticity Transforms Relationships

Becoming More Authentic:
    The Positive Side of Existentialism

Our Existential Predicament:
    Loneliness, Depression, Anxiety, & Death

    At present I have three books in process:

Designer Marriage:
    Write Your Own Relationship Contract

Variations of Sex and Gender:
    Six Phenomenon Frequently Confused

When Is A Person?
    Pre-Persons & Former Persons

(Further information about all of my books
will be found on my home page:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/JP-CW.html)

Heart, Mind, & Spirit---an electronic magazine for UUs on campus:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/HMS.html

The Cyber-Sermon Registry:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CySerReg.html

and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Internet:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/Y-INDEX.html

    For family members who want to know more about my thought,
the best places to begin is probably with my cyber-sermons:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-LIST.html
These are divided into 9 areas.
Browse at your leisure---everything from spirituality to war.

    My other major interests are also illustrated
by the six other sections of my home page:
Love, Sexology, Existentialism,
Existential Spirituality, Medical Ethics, & Death.

    I have created several bibliographies
of the best books in the areas of my interests.
These are also posted in the appropriate places on my home page.
My book review index lists all my bibliographies:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/BIB-JP.html
About 400 book reviews are now posted.

    Since 1978, I have been in a committed loving relationship
with Rita Bove.
She has one grown son, Joe Bove.
I have no children.

    In 2003 Joe Bove married Mary Jean Simmert.
They had their first child, Eva Jean Bove, in 2004.
And their son, Sawyer Zobal Bove, was born in 2007.
I see these people several times each week.
And my honorary grandchildren know me as "Grandpa Jim".