Morgan Scott Peck, M.D. was born on the 22nd of May 1936 in New York City. He is a popular psychiatrist and known for his views on psychology, society, and religion.

He received a B.A. from Harvard in 1958 and an M.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1963. He married Lily Ho in 1959. Dr. Peck has served in administrative posts in the government during his career as a psychotherapist. He has been the Medical Director of the New Milford Hospital Mental Health Clinic and a psychiatrist in private practice in New Milford, Connecticut. His first and best-known book, The Road Less Traveled, has sold more than seven million copies.

Dr. Peck's works combine his experiences from his private psychiatric practice with a distinctly religious point of view. In one of his books, People of the Lie, he wrote, "After many years of vague identification with Buddhist and Islamic mysticism, I ultimately made a firm Christian commitment - signified by my non-denominational baptism on the ninth of March 1980..." One of his religious insights is that people who are evil attack others rather than facing their own failures. His religious views are criticized by fundamentalist Christians (for example, Debbie Dewart).

In 1984, Dr. Peck co-founded the Foundation for Community Encouragement, a tax-exempt, nonprofit, public educational foundation, whose stated mission is "to teach the principles of community to individuals and organizations."

M Scott Peck seperated from his wife Lily in 2004 and married Kathleen Kline Yates soon after.

Peck died on September 25, 2005. He had Parkinson's disease and pancreatic cancer.

See also Famous M. Scott Peck Quotes