Charlotte Joko Beck (1917–2011) taught Zen to students around the world. A truly influential and widely admired teacher, she was the founder of the Zen Center in San Diego, which she ran for more than two decades, the Zen Center of Prescott, and the Ordinary Mind Zen School. In the 1960s she studied with Soen Nakagawa Roshi, who she considered her teacher. Her two books, Everyday Zen: Love and Work and Nothing Special: Living Zen, have been translated into more than half a dozen languages. Her influence today continues on through her teachings and through those for whom she was a direct teacher.

Author photo © Michael Lange at www.michaellange.eu