Louise Hay, a popular self-help author and an early AIDS advocate, has died at her home in San Diego at the age of 90 on Wednesday
Louise Hay, a popular self-help author and an early AIDS advocate, has died at her home in San Diego at the age of 90 on Wednesday.
The writer, known for her bestseller You Can Heal Your Life, died of natural causes in her sleep, according to her publishing company’s website.
Hay helped pave the way for the era of self-improvement books and was an early advocate for those with AIDS at a time when the disease was highly stigmatized.
The author used her own past as an example of what positive mantras could do, as Hay was a cervical cancer survivor and was sexually abused as a child.
Hay published her first book Heal Your Body in 1976, launching her successful career as an author, with more than 15 books to her name.
Hay’s life wasn’t always easy, as she readily disclosed.
The Los Angeles-native was abused by her stepfather, raped by a neighbor when she was five years old, dropped out of high school and gave up her only child for adoption when she was 16 years old, reported the New York Times.
Hay helped pave the way for the era of self-improvement books and was an early advocate for those with AIDS at a time when the disease was highly stigmatized. Pictured: Hay (center) with director Michael Goorjian (right) and Jolie Martin (left)
She moved to New York City in the 1950s as a model and met her husband, who she divorced around 14 years later.
It was during this time, in her 40s, that Hay happened upon the Church of Religious Science and developed her self-aware and positive self-image belief system.
Hay was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1970s but went against doctors’ opinions and developed her own ‘intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy’, according to her website.
Using only this treatment, Hay said was cancer-free within six months.
Hay’s New York Times bestseller You Can Heal Your Life was published in 1984 and has sold more than 50 million copies around the world.
Hay used her own past as an example of what positive mantras could do, as Hay was a cervical cancer survivor and was sexually abused as a child. She is known for her bestseller You Can Heal Your Life and her first book Heal Your Body was released in 1976 (right)
Hay did several interviews in 2008 and was dubbed ‘the queen of the New Age’ by a New York Times profile at the time.
Her publishing house, called Hay House, grossed $100 million in 2007, reported the Washington Post.
Hay was also known for her work as an AIDS advocate.
Gay former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Brad Bessey said to the Los Angeles Blade: ‘Louise Hay and her Hay Ride gave spiritual support and acceptance to so many in the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
‘She was so important to our movement—preaching love over fear and healing, hope and heart over hopelessness.’