Walsch, Neal Donald (1943-)

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Walsch, Neal Donald (1943-)

Neal Donald Walsch, the channel for receiving the material in a three-volume best-selling metaphysical book, Conversations with God, was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up in a Roman Catholic family and for a while considered the priesthood. Instead, he went to work at a local radio station and for the next 30 years worked in a variety of jobs that took him around the United States. He also married multiple times.

At the end of the 1980s he was in Ashland, Oregon, and went to work as a talk show host. Fired from one job, he landed a job at KOPE and became known locally as a radio personality under his public name, Bob White. In 1992 he experienced a period of frustration and depression. He was, in part, upset that the success in life that he had hoped for had alluded him. He fell back on a technique that had worked for him in the past. He composed a letter in which he poured out all of his anger in a series of questions. Previously, he would address such letters to individuals with whom he had problems. This time, he decided to direct the letter to God. As he finished the letter, he received an answer. Words formed in his mind and he wrote them down. God asked if Walsch wanted answers to his questions or was merely venting. He responded that he was venting but in fact wanted answers to the questions.

Thus began a dialogue with God that would last over the next three years. Walsch would pose questions and God would reply. Walsch wrote the answers out in longhand. This process has traditionally been called automatic writing, and has more recently been seen as a variety of channeling. As the material was received, an initial batch of it was compiled as volume one of Conversations with God and published in 1995. It quickly became a best-seller and remained on the New York Times list for 91 weeks, and was subsequently translated into 27 languages. Volume two appeared in 1997 and it too reached the best-seller list. Volume three appeared in 1998.

As the response to the volumes grew Walsch founded Re-Creation, an organization to put the idea of the books into action. ReCreation now sponsors a full range of lectures, workshops, retreats, and seminars across the United States and abroad. Beginning in the year 2000, it is organizing an annual Empowerment Week that includes a training session for leaders who wish to expand the work. Walsch also created the CWG in Action program to establish local centers for the work.

Walsch resides in Ashland and continues to lead ReCreation, which may be contacted at PMB #1150, 1257 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. His Internet site is at http://www.conversationswithgod.org/.