Zen Pioneer: The Life and Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki
*Starred Review*  Librarian and professor Stirling first learned of the high--society Chicago matron turned Zen Buddhist priest when she visited the extensive library Ruth Fuller Sasaki (1892-1967) established in Kyoto. Now Stirling crisply portrays the famously rigorous Sasaki, whose ordination broke every Zen taboo against women and foreigners. Thanks to Ruth's first husband's business travels, she met and studied with the renowned Zen master D. T. Suzuki in Japan in 1930. Later, back in the States and widowed, she worked with Sasaki Sokei-an Roshi to establish the First Zen Institute in New York. The center opened the day before Pearl Harbor, and shortly thereafter Sokei-an was interned by the federal government. After his release, he and Ruth married (Ruth's daughter married philosopher Alan Watts), but he died within the year, leaving Ruth in charge of the center. She chose, instead, to live in Kyoto, where she wrote fluently about Zen and translated crucial Zen works into English as interest in Zen Buddhism surged in America. Accompanied by a vivid foreword by poet Gary Snyder, who worked with Sasaki, and three of -Sasaki's invaluable treatises, this meticulous and fascinating volume celebrates a visionary scholar, translator, and bridge builder.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.