James Arthur Ray dead: Self-help author behind tragic sweat lodge deaths
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James Arthur Ray, a self-help guru whose multimillion-dollar business toppled after he led a sweat lodge ceremony that left three people dead, has died. He was 67.
In a post on X, his family announced that Ray died “suddenly and unexpectedly” late last week but didn’t specify the cause. Up until then, he co-hosted a podcast with his wife and shared advice via social media.
“His passion in life was always to make others’ lives better and more fulfilled,” Ray’s brother, Jon Ray, wrote. “I’m happy to say that he accomplished that thousands of times over.”
The sweat lodge deaths happened when dozens of people traveled to a scenic retreat just outside Sedona in October 2009 for Ray’s five-day “Spiritual Warrior” event. The sweat lodge was the culminating event, touted as “hellacious hot” and a chance for participants to have powerful breakthroughs.
Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada where was Ray residing, said it had received a death report of a man matching Ray’s name and age.
Ray’s earlier business in which he taught people about spiritual and financial help was boosted by appearances in the 2006 Rhonda Byrne documentary “The Secret,” which he promoted on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Larry King Live.”
Two people — 38-year-old Kirby Brown of Westtown, New York, and 40-year-old James Shore of Milwaukee — died inside the sweat lodge and 18 others were injured. Another person, Liz Neuman, 49, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, fell into a coma and died after more than a week in the hospital.
Content retrieved from: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/self-help-author-james-arthur-ray-whose-seminar-led-to-tragedy-and-death-dies-at-67/ar-AA1x4BHE.
