Name John Seeley | ||
Herbert John Ronald George Friedeburg-Seeley (February 21, 1913 - December 16, 2007) was a sociologist and author in Canada and the United States. His works include The Americanization of the Unconscious and Crestwood Heights.
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Early life
Seeley was the son of Emil Friedeburg, a wealthy German grain merchant with what is presently Bunge and Co. His mother was Lilly Etta Seeley. Seeley was born into the aristocratic class of London. He had three brothers- Frank, Cyril, and Teddy. The boys were educated at various European boarding schools. At age 17, Seeley left England for North America where he would earn his advanced degrees.
Career
Seeley served in the Canadian Army from 1939 to 1945. He then completed a graduate degree at the University of Chicago. "The fraction of the Forest Hills work reported out in Crestwood Heights was Seeley's first major publication, and established his professional presence. Crestwood Heights was the first full-scale sociological study of a suburban community, and the first psychologically-oriented anthropological study of a community as such." Seeley went on to help charter York University. He also taught as an adjunct professor at Brandeis University whilst working as a sociologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Personal life
In 1942, Seeley married French Canadian Margaret DeRocher. They had four sons- John, David, Ronald, and Peter. Seeley considered his best friend to be Morrie Schwartz of whom the book Tuesdays with Morrie was written by Mitch Albom.