Ram Dass was born Richard Alpert. He was a successful professor at Harvard in the 1960s. After Timothy Leary started working down the hall, the two started experimenting with psychedelics, and were subsequently fired. Alpert changed his name to Ram Dass after meeting spiritual teacher, Neem Karoli Baba, in India. Ram Dass began studying Yoga and Hindu Philosophy, shared his newfound practices in the very popular book, 'Be Here Now'. He wrote several books after, some of which are transcriptions of lectures. Some favorites include, 'Grist for the Mill', 'The Only Dance There Is', and his translation of 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead', that he co-authored with Ralph Metzner, 'The Psychedelic Experience'.
He is also known for his work with Leary at The Millbrook Estate in Massachusetts.
He suffered a stroke in the 1997, and has done a lot of work around illness, death, and dying, since then.