by tammara
Laura Huxley Lives On Forever in My Mind
December 18, 2007 at 3:38 am in Obituaries
Laura Huxley died at 96 years old last week, on December 13th, 2007. Weirdly enough, she died on my birthday and once again, her life has serendipitously touched mine.
Since moving to LA so many years ago, I’ve always felt a special kinship with her. When I first arrived, I would start each morning walking in the hills or around the Hollywood Reservoir to clear my head. I would invariably run into her, bursting with vigor and sporting one of her large hats.
She was an amazing woman and though her vital earthly essence will be missed, her amazing contributions to the world will live on. Her husband, Aldous Huxley, once mused that he would love to write her biography, “but the best parts would be unprintable!”
Born in Turin, Italy, she was a child prodigy, a virtuoso on the violin at age six. Laura went on to become a film editor for RKO studios, then later a therapist. She was fascinated with the worlds of psychotherapy and human consciousness.
After marrying Huxley in 1956, Laura and Aldous explored different realms of consciousness using meditation, LSD and other means to alter their minds. Both of them wrote books about their work and experiences and together, helped spark the psychedelic movement of the 60′s by publicizing their findings.
Never one to rest on her laurels, in her later years, Laura founded, “Children” Our Ultimate Investment”.
The foundations goal is to “nurture the possible human in every child”. She believed strongly that children should be raised and taught without using fear or punishment. A more positive and humane approach was to use reward and celebrate their achievements and who they are as people. This was the key idea in Aldous Huxley’s novel, “Island”.
Laura Huxley was a visionary woman, a beautiful soul and an inspiration. I’ll miss seeing her cruising around under the Hollywood sign, but will be forever empowered by the joy with which she embraced life.
Related posts:
