James Arthur Ray
| James Arthur Ray | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1957 |
| Occupation | New Thought author, motivational speaker |
James Arthur Ray (born November 22, 1957) is a motivational speaker and author who was convicted of felony negligent homicide. He is the author of Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, which was a New York Times bestseller.
Ray taught Stephen Covey motivational seminars while employed at AT&T and claimed he later worked two years for the Covey foundation; however the company has no record of him as an employee or contractor. In 2006 he appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and was one of several narrators in the film The Secret. He has also appeared on the Today Show and Oprah. As of October 2009 Ray's company, James Ray International, was not Better Business Bureau accredited, which gives the company a C rating for seven complaints filed and two unresolved.
Ray was convicted of three counts of negligent homicide but acquitted of manslaughter following his February 3, 2010, arrest in the deaths of three participants in one of his New Age retreats. He was sentenced to two years in Arizona state prison and was released under supervision on July 12, 2013.
James' father was an Oklahoma preacher in occasional poverty for a decade until 1973 at Red Fork Church of God in Tulsa. At times they had to live in the church office. Money and spirituality were central to him. "The hardest part of my childhood was reconciling how Dad poured his heart into his work, how he helped so many people and yet he couldn't afford to pay for haircuts for me and my brother," Ray wrote in his 2008 book Harmonic Wealth. "How could a loving God keep me from Cub Scouts on account of not being able to afford a uniform?" However, a classmate of James recalled that "Ray always dressed well and knew he'd make something of himself."
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