Peggy Payne
Encyclopedia
Peggy Payne is a writer, journalist and consultant to writers. She has written four books and her articles
, reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times
, Cosmopolitan
, The Washington Post
, The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune
, among others. Her work deals primarily with religion
and spirituality
.
, North Carolina
. She graduated from Duke University
in 1970 and worked for The Raleigh Times for two years before beginning her freelance career, which lasted over three decades.
She was awarded the Sherwood Anderson Award for 2003, given in memory of Sherwood Anderson
, author of Winesburg, Ohio
. She has been the recipient of an NEH grant to study fiction
at Berkeley
, an Indo-American Fellowship to research Sister India (one of her books) in Varanasi
and a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship.
Her work has been cited in The Best American Short Stories and published in anthologies including God: Stories, edited by Atlantic Monthly fiction editor
C. Michael Curtis; New Stories from the South
; and Remarkable Reads. An interview with her, "Writing and Revelation," is included in Dale Brown
's Of Fiction and Faith: Twelve American Writers Talk about Their Vision and Work.
. One day while grilling food in his backyard he hears God speaking to him. Neither he nor most of his congregation believe in a god who does such a thing, however. Hammond therefore faces the difficult decision of whether to risk his livelihood by going public about the ordeal or keep secret the very thing his career is supposedly devoted to teaching.
This can be corroborated by the Mother Teresa effect, in which researchers showed 132 Harvard students a film about Mother Teresa's work among Calcutta's poor people. The scientists then measured the level of immunoglobin A, the body's first defense against the common cold, present in their saliva. The test revealed markedly increased levels of immunoglobin A, all after simply witnessing somebody else involved in charity work.
Payne said of her own philosophy while writing for the company:
who is hiding from the life she tried to escape in North Carolina. The book is the story of her courageous emergence.
Sister India was on The New York Times list of notable books of 2001.
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
, reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, among others. Her work deals primarily with religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
.
Biography
Payne was born in 1949 in WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. She graduated from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in 1970 and worked for The Raleigh Times for two years before beginning her freelance career, which lasted over three decades.
She was awarded the Sherwood Anderson Award for 2003, given in memory of Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
, author of Winesburg, Ohio
Winesburg, Ohio (novel)
Winesburg, Ohio is a 1919 short story cycle by the American author Sherwood Anderson. The work is structured around the life of protagonist George Willard, from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man...
. She has been the recipient of an NEH grant to study fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
at Berkeley
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, an Indo-American Fellowship to research Sister India (one of her books) in Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
and a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship.
Her work has been cited in The Best American Short Stories and published in anthologies including God: Stories, edited by Atlantic Monthly fiction editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
C. Michael Curtis; New Stories from the South
New Stories From the South
New Stories from the South is an annual compilation of short stories published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and billed as the year's best stories written by Southern writers or about the Southern United States...
; and Remarkable Reads. An interview with her, "Writing and Revelation," is included in Dale Brown
Dale Brown
Dale Brown is an American author and aviator, most famous for his aviation techno-thriller novels, with thirteen New York Times best sellers to his name.Brown was born in Buffalo, New York...
's Of Fiction and Faith: Twelve American Writers Talk about Their Vision and Work.
Revelation
Published in 1988, Revelation is the story of calm and collected minister, Swain Hammond, in Chapel Hill, North CarolinaChapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
. One day while grilling food in his backyard he hears God speaking to him. Neither he nor most of his congregation believe in a god who does such a thing, however. Hammond therefore faces the difficult decision of whether to risk his livelihood by going public about the ordeal or keep secret the very thing his career is supposedly devoted to teaching.
The Healing Power of Doing Good
The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others was Payne's second book, written with Allan Luks and published in 1991. In it she argues, based on scientific evidence, that helping others mitigates both the intensity and the awareness of physical pain, reduces chronic hostility, and decreases the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks. She and Luks also make famous the term "helper's high," which describes a feeling of exhilaration and a burst of energy similar to that experienced after intense exercise, followed by a period of calmness and serenity.This can be corroborated by the Mother Teresa effect, in which researchers showed 132 Harvard students a film about Mother Teresa's work among Calcutta's poor people. The scientists then measured the level of immunoglobin A, the body's first defense against the common cold, present in their saliva. The test revealed markedly increased levels of immunoglobin A, all after simply witnessing somebody else involved in charity work.
Doncaster
Doncaster: A Legacy of Personal Style was Payne's third book and was published in 1997. It depicts a women's clothing company that is built on helping every person, be it employee or customer, develop their individual style and meet their personal goals.Payne said of her own philosophy while writing for the company:
I found as I began work on this project, sponsored by the clothing company, that what might have been for me a routine copy-writing job instead became an important piece of my life's work. As an outsider to the company, I realized early in the process of the research that this organization was serious—and enthusiastic—about encouraging development of individual potential. This was a philosophy close to my own heart, an idea that I too want to promote. So writing for Doncaster helped me to get out a piece of my own message. Thus, I became an example of the company's hiring philosophy: to find people who can meet the company's needs through fulfilling their own individual dreams.
Sister India
Her most recent book, Sister India, was published in 2002. It tells the story of a morbidly obese American woman living in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who is hiding from the life she tried to escape in North Carolina. The book is the story of her courageous emergence.
Sister India was on The New York Times list of notable books of 2001.