James Arthur Ray, Self-Help Guide Whose Retreat Became Deadly, Dies at 67

Last updated: January 11, 2025 12:53 am

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U.S. | James Arthur Ray, 67, Self-Help Guide Whose Retreat Became Deadly, Dies

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A rising star among New Age motivational speakers, he was brought down by a disaster during one of his retreats in Arizona, where three people died in a sweat lodge.

James Arthur Ray in 2016. In 2008, Fortune magazine called him “the next big thing in the highly competitive world of motivational gurus”; two years later, he was convicted of negligent homicide. Credit… Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival Jan. 10, 2025

James Arthur Ray, an Oprah-endorsed motivational speaker who spent two years in prison after the 2009 deaths of three people in a sweat lodge, the culmination of a three-day spiritual program he ran in the Arizona desert, died on Jan. 3 in Henderson, Nev. He was 67.

His brother, Jon Ray, announced the death on social media. He did not say where in Henderson Mr. Ray died or cite a cause, but he did say the death was unexpected.

Mr. Ray was struggling to succeed as a motivational speaker when he appeared in “The Secret,” a 2006 documentary made by the Australian television producer Rhonda Byrne. The “secret,” which Mr. Ray and others espoused, was the idea that positive thinking can literally make the world shift in your favor.

Things began to move quickly for Mr. Ray. He appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show, where she lavished praise on him. Within months he was standing in front of sold-out crowds of hundreds, then thousands. In 2008 he published “Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want,” written with Linda Sivertsen, which reached The New York Times’s best-seller list.

He was, Fortune magazine declared in 2008, “the next big thing in the highly competitive world of motivational gurus.”

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Mr. Ray spoke at what he called a “Harmonic Wealth Weekend” in Jersey City, N.J., in March 2009, a few months before three people died at his Arizona retreat. Credit… Yana Paskova for The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

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