A child, a man, and now Spirit…
Dr. William Wallace Whitson (Whit) was a gentle man and a gentleman. He stood tall and straight with dignity and in this world he performed miracles.
Our esteemed Whit – Vice President and Secretary of the Foundation for Inner Peace since 1986 and a board member since 1982 – passed away suddenly on Thursday, February 8, 2018. Whit managed and launched 27 language translations of A Course in Miracles.
His quiet and kind sensitivity listened earnestly to those who engaged him. When he spoke, his worldly knowledge was impressive. But fueling everything he did was his deep purpose.
With his wife, Judy, he danced the dance of love. Neither of them ever left a room, or went on an excursion, without a kiss which embraced the memory, “We are One, and together we remind each other, ‘I am blessed as a Child of God.’”
A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Colonel Whitson pursued a 22-year military career, including positions as General’s Aide at the United Nations, instructor at West Point, and advisor to the Dean of the Korean Military Academy. He was Company Command and Battle Group Operations Officer with the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army. He studied and learned the Chinese language, was a political analyst with the American Embassy in the Republic of China (Taiwan), a political analyst with the American Consulate of Hong Kong, and a Systems Analyst with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
After his retirement he engaged in research on China. He worked for the RAND Corporation, the Stanford Research Institute and BDM Corporation. During the 1970s he lectured at the Air and Army Command and General Staff Colleges, the Air War College, the Army War College, the Central Intelligence Agency, Columbia University, the Foreign Service Institute, the Harvard Business School, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the National War College and the United States Air Force and Military Academies.
In addition to numerous articles and papers for the RAND Corporation, he edited The Military and Political Power in China in the 1970s (1972); Doing Business with China (1972); and Foreign Policy and US National Security: Major Post Election Issues (1973); and he wrote The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics (1927-71) (1973). In 1975, he joined the Library of Congress as Chief of Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service.
In 1980, he resigned from the Library of Congress to organize and chair the Emergency Earthquake Taskforce for California under Governor Jerry Brown. Thereafter, he served as President of CIM Associates, a service corporation to business and government. He is a past member of the Board of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the California Institute for Integral Studies. Whit also wrote a series of novels, called the Born to Flight series: Something Glorious, The Fledgling, Apprentice Warrior and Test of Battle.
Since 1982 he has served on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Inner Peace and in 1986 became Vice President and Secretary of the Foundation, managing the translation program.
Whit was the epitome of the peaceful warrior scholar and left his body as he lived, knowing that there is no death. At the end, he repeated this line from The Course, which eased his transition: “I am not a body, I am free. I am still as God created me.” Whit soars in his freedom reminding us of Love.
He leaves behind his five beloved progeny, Whit Jr., Christina, Andrew, Rob Whitson and Shawn Bateman; step-children Tamara Morgan and Jonathan Cohen plus his many grandchildren. And with him in spirit, eternally, his holy partner, Judith Skutch Whitson.
Now cracks a noble heart.
Good-night sweet prince;
And flights of angels
sing thee to thy rest.
If you are inclined, kindly honor Whit by giving to the Foundation for Inner Peace, in support of the dissemination of A Course in Miracles. Please visit our Donate page or send checks to:
The Foundation for Inner Peace • 448 Ignacio Blvd., #306, Novato, CA 94949
We invite you to help celebrate his life by viewing the Memorial Website we have created to honor him.
