Gary Gach
Gary Gregory Gach is an American author, translator, editor, teacher and poet living on Russian Hill, San Francisco. His work has been translated into several languages, and has appeared in several anthologies and numerous periodicals. He serves on the International Advisory Panel of the Buddhist Channel, a Malaysian Buddhist news website. He currently hosts Haiku Corner for .Life
Gach was born to a Jewish family in Hollywood, Los Angeles in 1947. He was student body president of John Burroughs Junior High School. He claims to have had a mystic vision at the age of 6. At 11, he read The Way of Zen by Alan Watts, beginning a lifelong interest in Buddhism.
He was formally introduced to meditation by Paul Reps and later studied Hasidic Judaism and Kabbalah, and was introduced to shikantaza by Dainin Katagiri Roshi.
He has worked as an actor, stevedore, typographer, legal secretary, editor-in-chief, webmaster, and teacher. Besides Buddhism, he teaches haiku, and mentors in English composition.Author
- 1974: Preparing the Ground : Poems 1960-1970
- 1996: The Pocket Guide to the Internet: No-Sweat Guide to the Information Highway
- 1997: Writers.net: Every Writer's Essential Guide to Online Resources and Opportunities
- 2001–2009: Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism ; 2nd edition, 2004 - ; 3rd edition, 2009 -.
- 2018: Pause Breathe Smile – Awakening Mindfulness When Meditation Is Not Enough
Translator
- 2005: Ten Thousand Lives by Ko Un, introduction by Robert Hass,
- 2006: Flowers of a Moment, 185 brief poems by Ko Un;
- 2007: Songs for Tomorrow: Poems 1961-2001 by Ko Un
Editor
- 1998: What Book!? : Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop, introduction by Peter Coyote
Awards
Gach is a recipient of an American Book Award in 1999 for What Book!?
Shortlisted for Northern California Book Award for Translation, for Songs for Tomorrow and finalist for Flowers of a Moment. Nautilus Book Awards for Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism 3rd ed'n.
