Peale, Norman Vincent

Peale, Norman Vincent

(1898–93) Protestant religious leader, author; born in Bowersville, Ohio. The son of a pastor-physician, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1920 and was ordained a Methodist Episcopal minister two years later. He held pastorates in Rhode Island and New York before beginning his long association with Marble Collegiate Reformed Church in New York City, where he was pastor from 1932 to 1984. In 1937 he established a psychiatric clinic, the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry, as part of his ministry. Known in later years for a somewhat Pollyannish version of Christianity, he authored many best-selling books, including The Art of Loving (1948), The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), and The Tough-Minded Optimist (1962), and was an influential lecturer, radio broadcaster, syndicated newspaper columnist, and host of the television program What's Your Problem? In 1969 he became president of the Reformed Church in America. He directed his many pastoral activities from his Foundation for Christian Living in Pawling, N.Y.