Although William Thetford did not write an autobiography of his extraordinary life and career, in a series of taped interviews with his dear friend, Dr. Frances Vaughan, in 1982 he did discuss his life’s journey and his role in the scribing of A Course in Miracles. The audiotapes are now part of the Archives of A Course in Miracles maintained by the Foundation for Inner Peace. Upon completing her interviews with Bill, however, Dr. Vaughan also transcribed the tapes as an archival question-answer printed record, titled Recollections of William Thetford, which she and Bill together edited.
While this biographical archival record of Bill sufficiently covered the essence of his life and was the first such account of its kind, a number of essential aspects and important events nevertheless were inadvertently not included. These came to light or were discovered later, including the six-year period from 1982 until his death in 1988 that also needed to be added. As a result, the fundamental material presented in Recollections of William Thetford was naturally and faithfully amplified and updated to include additional significant biographical material taken from a variety of other interviews of Bill that appear on audio and video cassettes, as well as in written form and as remembrances from friends and colleagues.
In lieu of his own authored autobiography, therefore, the following personal, biographic account of Bill’s life – presented here posthumously by the Foundation for Inner Peace in a self-narrated, stylized format – is offered in the spirit and style it is felt that Bill himself would have penned it as an expanded, personal portrayal of life and career, especially regarding his essential and vital part in the scribing of A Course in Miracles.
Read Bill’s Life Story (William Newton Thetford, Ph.D. Life Story).
