Marion Derby (later Marian Wisberg and also known as Marion Mountain) (March 12, 1923 - May 15, 2013 [1] [2]) was an author, artist, and zen student of Shunryū Suzuki.
Derby was a puppeteer at one point, working with Frank Oz at the Children's Fairyland Puppet Fair hosted by the San Francisco Puppeteers Guild of America. [3]
Derby was the head of the Los Altos Zen group (which later evolved into the Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center [4]) where Shunryū Suzuki often taught. [5] Derby was responsible for putting together the first draft of Shunryū Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. [4] [6] Derby's father was driving Suzuki from Los Altos to San Francisco and he inquired about Suzuki's ambition wherein Suzuki replied "I'd like to write a book." [6] After hearing about this conversation from her father, Derby approached Suzuki about taping his lectures and transcribing them. [6] Suzuki later suggested she give the manuscript to Richard Baker who then further refined it with the help of Trudy Dixon. [7]
Under the name Marian Mountain, Derby authored her own book on Zen entitled The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation. [8] She was working on a follow-up book entitled Snail Zen when she died. [9]
Marion Derby (later Marian Wisberg and also known as Marion Mountain) (March 12, 1923 - May 15, 2013 [1] [2]) was an author, artist, and zen student of Shunryū Suzuki.
Derby was a puppeteer at one point, working with Frank Oz at the Children's Fairyland Puppet Fair hosted by the San Francisco Puppeteers Guild of America. [3]
Derby was the head of the Los Altos Zen group (which later evolved into the Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center [4]) where Shunryū Suzuki often taught. [5] Derby was responsible for putting together the first draft of Shunryū Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. [4] [6] Derby's father was driving Suzuki from Los Altos to San Francisco and he inquired about Suzuki's ambition wherein Suzuki replied "I'd like to write a book." [6] After hearing about this conversation from her father, Derby approached Suzuki about taping his lectures and transcribing them. [6] Suzuki later suggested she give the manuscript to Richard Baker who then further refined it with the help of Trudy Dixon. [7]
Under the name Marian Mountain, Derby authored her own book on Zen entitled The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation. [8] She was working on a follow-up book entitled Snail Zen when she died. [9]