Gary White

Gary White has had several careers in his lifetime. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Michigan State University. At his retirement in 1994 he was Distinguished Professor of Music at Iowa State University, where he had taught for twenty-eight years. He developed and administered the music theory curriculum and established the electronic and computer music studio at Iowa State. For a number of years he was also in charge of music listening courses for non-music-majors. 

White is the composer of over fifty published musical compositions and the author of a number of textbooks in music theory. In his thirty-five years as a professional composer he received numerous awards. He was awarded the U.C. Berkeley Medal by the University of California at Berkeley, was named a National Arts Associate by Sigma Alpha Iota, and has held a Mac Dowell Colony Fellowship. His compositions won many prizes and awards, including the Toon van Balkom Prize and the Shenandoah / Percussion Plus Prize. 

In the years since his retirement from Iowa State University, White has devoted his time to the pursuit of his varied interests. He has received training in labyrinth facilitation with Lauren Artress at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. With his wife, Elyn Aviva, he has led labyrinth workshops and built a number of portable and permanent labyrinths. More recently, he has been trained in Healing Touch, Reiki healing, Swedish massage, Phenomenal Touch, and hot stone massage. He has also walked the Camino de Santiago across Spain and the French Chemin de St-Jacques from Le Puy-en-Velay to the Pyrenees. 

In 2000 White launched Pilgrims Process books and has been responsible for design, production, and distribution of all the books published by the company. Gary is currently living in Girona (Catalonia), Spain, with his wife, Elyn Aviva. They are co-authoring the series "Powerful Places Guidebooks," which currently includes Powerful Places in Brittany, Powerful Places on the Caminos de Santiago, Powerful Places in Scotland, and Powerful Places in Catalonia. The series focuses on transformational travel: how to experience a place, not simply visit it.

Gary has also written an account of his life called Pebbles: Memories of a Small-Town Kansas Boy.