John Gray

John Gray was born in Houston, Texas. In his late teens he became interested in Transcendental Meditation and spent about nine years as a celibate personal assistant to its founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in the Science of Creative Intelligence from institutions linked to the movement. In 1982 he received a doctorate from Columbia Pacific University, an unaccredited distance-learning school that California later ordered to close. Critics often point to this degree when they question his authority as a counselor.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (1992) argues that men and women communicate and cope with stress in such different ways that they seem to come from different planets. It sold more than 15 million copies and appeared in over 40 languages. Psychologists and linguists say it exaggerates differences between the sexes and relies on stereotypes.

He built the title into a brand of books, workshops and counseling programs. Later books include Mars and Venus in the Bedroom (1995) and Beyond Mars and Venus (2017).