After receiving a BA (Hons) Degree in French and Spanish from Birmingham University in 1967, Roger Housden started his career in London working for Times Newspapers. Within three years he went on to being a freelance feature writer for The Guardian and an interviewer for the BBC. In the 1980s he founded The Open Gate, the first year-round conference and retreat program to bring mainstream figures in psychology, spiritual traditions, and the arts from the United States to the UK. The Open Gate was a seminal influence and inspiration for many of the learning initiatives that have developed since in the UK, including Schumacher College and Schumacher Lecture Series, and Be the Change. In 1998 Housden immigrated to the United States and since then has been a full-time writer for publishers in New York City. He lives in the Bay Area.
