The Reverend Dr Glenn Taylor Webb died in Palm Desert on January 6th, 2024.
He was one of the few Obaku/Rinzai trained Zen priests living in the United States. He was ordained by Miyauchi Kanko Roshi in 1970. Webb trained both at his master’s temple Kankoji, as well as at the Rinzai training monastery Myoshinji.
Dr Webb’s Zen successor Dr Kurt Spellmeyer writes how “together with his young American dharma heir, Kangan Glenn Webb, Miyauchi (Roshi) set out on a journey to the mother temple on the Chinese mainland. When they reached Han Shan Si, the master and his student were welcomed by the abbot, who acknowledged Webb’s transmission.”
In addition to his Zen life, Dr Webb was an academic. In 2011, Dr. Glenn Taylor Webb was awarded Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun. At the time the consulate provided a biographical sketch. The article outlined how Dr Webb
“was born in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1935. At the age of 3, he started learning classical piano, which he continued, reaching the highest level of national competition. He studied in New York with Julliard teachers and gave recitals around the country, until the age of 17. During one of his recitals in New York, he met Daisetsu Suzuki, who first brought Zen Buddhism from Japan to the West. Dr. Suzuki’s world view inspired Webb’s interest in Japanese studies and religious studies.
Dr. Webb attended Abilene Christian University in Texas, where he met and married his wife, Carol St. John. He graduated with a BA in Art and Religion in 1957, after which he was a graduate fellow for a year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Supported for the next 7 years by U. S. National Defense Foreign Language grants, he studied Japanese language and culture in the Art History and East Asian Studies Program at the University of Chicago, where he earned a Masters degree.
In 1964, Dr. Webb won a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed him to pursue doctoral work at Kyoto University for two years. There, Dr. Daisetsu Suzuki, whom he had met at 16, became his mentor, along with other prominent Japanese scholars. Webb additionally trained in Buddhist temples to gain a deeper understanding of Buddhist teachings and was even ordained in the Rinzai Zen priesthood. Along with his wife, Carol, he also began studying Urasenke chanoyu, and they both became accredited instructors. After returning to the States, Dr. Webb earned a PhD in East Asian studies from the University of Chicago, with his dissertation entitled Japanese Scholarship on Momoyama Culture.
In 1966, Dr. Webb began teaching full time at the University of Washington’s School of Art and Jackson School of International Studies. He co-directed the Center for Asian Arts and promoted cultural exchange between the United States and Japan. One of his projects was running the Kyoto Program, wherein University of Washington students studied in Kyoto under the foremost figures in Japanese traditional arts. In 1970, Dr. Webb published his first book, “The Arts of Japan – Medieval to Modern,” based on the work of renowned art historian Seiroku Noma. To further students’ study of Zen and chanoyu, Dr. Webb established the Seattle Zen Center, which is still in operation today. He also worked to incorporate the study of chanoyu into the curriculum of the University of Washington, laying the first foundation of today’s vibrant chanoyu community in Seattle.
Dr. and Mrs. Webb moved to Malibu, California in 1987, where he undertook the directorship of the Institute for the Study of Asian Cultures (ISAC) at Pepperdine University. While there, Dr. Webb invited many leaders of Buddhist groups, including the Los Angeles Zen Center and the Jodo and Nichiren Temples to speak at Pepperdine. He also invited the Bukkyo University in Kyoto to bring its students for visits to Pepperdine’s Malibu campus, promoting the cultural exchange between Japan and the United States. Even after his retirement in 2004 and his move to Palm Desert, Dr. Webb has continued to maintain a strong connection with Bukkyo University in Kyoto and Los Angeles, in which he serves as academic advisor and visiting professor.
Finally, as Emeritus Professor, Dr. Webb maintains a relationship with Pepperdine University, and both of the Webbs have been actively involved in the Urasenke Tankokai Los Angeles Association since they moved to Southern California. After serving as a president for 12 years, Dr. Webb is now the association’s honorary president. But the true legacy of Dr. Webb’s career is found in the large number of students he has touched – in both Japan and America – during his 50 years of teaching.”
Carol and Glenn Webb had two children Burke Mayo and Reginald Anderson. Burke predeceased his father.
He was a brilliant scholar. An influence on many of us in the Zen world. Including me.
But most of all he was a good person.
May his memory bring blessings to all…
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